photo-detachmentn.
/ˈfəʊtəʊdᵻtatʃm(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˈfoʊdədəˌtætʃm(ə)nt/ (in sense 2)Brit. /ˌfəʊtəʊdᵻˈtatʃm(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˌfoʊdədəˈtætʃm(ə)nt/ (see also detachment n.) 1. Military. A detachment (of soldiers, etc.) assigned to photographic work.
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1935 Geogr. Jrnl. 86 288 The great difficulties of transport of personnel have been met in many cases by means of the Royal Canadian Air Force photo-detachment aeroplanes.
1945 F. Woolner Spearhead in West 84 Captain Theodore Black, and Lt. Thomas S. Noble, division photo detachment commander,..reached the public square in the center of Chateau Thierry before any other American troops or vehicles.
1999 J. V. Quarstein World War I on Virginia Peninsula 53 McKinney..organized the new school. It included a pilot school, a school of photographers and observers, and a photo detachment.
2. Physics. Detachment of an electron from an atom caused by an incident photon.
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the world > matter > physics > atomic physics > ion > ionization > [noun] > ionization produced by electromagnetic radiation > process or condition
photoelectric effect1892
photoeffect1903
internal conversion1905
photoelectric absorption1921
photo-detachment1943
photoejection1964
1943 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 239 278 (heading) Photodetachment of electrons from normal O− ions.
1988 Nature 22 Sept. 298/3 The most promising process for observing non-exponential decay is the near-threshold photodetachment of electrons from negative ions using highly stabilized lasers.
2004 Physical Rev. Lett. 93 193001 The first measurements of photodetachment cross sections, positions, widths, and shapes of triply excited resonances in He− are reported.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1935