Photonics Dictionary

Laser sintering is an additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that involves using a laser to selectively fuse powdered materials, typically polymers or metals, layer by layer, to create...

Breakdown of a gas produced by the attenuation of an intense pulse of focused laser light.

A method of analysis in which a pulsed laser beam is used to heat a particle, producing a plasma, or laser spark. As the plasma cools, optical energy characteristic of the elements in the plasma is...

Sparkling granular pattern that is observed when an object diffusely reflects coincident laser light. Speckle appears as an irregularity in many holographs but has been exploited as a measurement...

That part of the science involved in the study of the theory and interpretation of spectra that uses the unique characteristics of the laser as an integral part in the development of information for...

An instrument usually consisting of a very long interferometer, 3 to 800 m, and a laser light source for the study and measurement of strain, such as those formed by earth tides and gravitational...

Laser surgery refers to a medical procedure in which a laser, or focused beam of light, is used as a precision tool to cut, vaporize, coagulate, or otherwise modify tissues for therapeutic or...

Laser texturing is a manufacturing process that involves using a laser beam to selectively modify the surface of a material, creating textures, patterns, or microstructures. This technique is...

A technique for confining atoms, molecules or small particles within one or more laser beams. This can be accomplished through the use of a single focused beam or multiple intersecting beams. With a...

A technique that uses a solid-state laser and a detector to determine an object's relative distance to the system. The laser beam is projected onto the target and then reflected onto a detector...

The use of lasers in tailoring of such components as thin-film resistors. The process improves speed and accuracy.

The device, usually made of glass or a similar material, that contains the resonant cavity and optics of a gas laser.

A technique based on the principles of laser trapping and used to manipulate the position of small particles by gradually changing the position of the laser beam or beams once the particles are...

A system that uses a continuous-wave laser to measure the velocity of an object by focusing the laser beam on the object, perpendicular to its direction of motion. An optical grating receives...

The variation of the electronically detected signal with respect to the scaled version of the classical optical signal incident on the photomultiplier tube.

Laser viewing cards, also known as laser alignment cards or laser safety cards, are specialized cards or sheets designed to visualize laser beams or assist in aligning optical equipment while...

A system that uses the heat from a pulsed laser to weld metals. Because of the rapidity and localization in which the welding takes place, metals of vastly dissimilar melting points can be welded...

A laser, which stands for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation," is a device that produces coherent and focused beams of light through the process of optical amplification based...

A type of fluorescence spectroscopy in which an excimer laser, a dye laser and a frequency-doubling device are used to detect polycyclic hydrocarbon atoms to a part-per-billion level.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is an analytical technique that uses a high-powered laser pulse to ablate a small amount of material from a sample, creating a plasma. This plasma emits...

A process used in the design, repair and customization of integrated circuits. A low-power laser etches a silicon wafer placed inside a gas-filled vacuum chamber, initiating a chemical reaction.

A pump-probe technique whereby a single wavelength source may be used in order to excite a given sample to determine electronic transitions.

Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) is a spectroscopic technique that involves using a laser to excite molecules or atoms, leading to their emission of fluorescence light. This technique is widely used...

A scattering photometer using scattered light in the solid angle 4.51+0 19° with respect to the forward direction, and an impactor with a rectangular jet. Scattered light intensities of entering...

Laser-mediated gene transfer refers to a technique in molecular biology and genetic engineering that utilizes lasers to introduce genetic material into cells. This method is a type of gene delivery...

A process by which the ionizing capabilities of a laser beam are used to break initiate conduction between pairs of electrodes charged below the self-breakdown voltage of the insulating medium.

A contact tip made of artificial sapphire (AlO2) that allows surgeons to use laser power to cut and coagulate tissue simultaneously.

A machining process that uses a laser to cut three-dimensional molds or models.

A stroboscopelike apparatus that uses a copper vapor laser to illuminate an object for very short time periods (about 30 ns).

The material that produces stimulated emission from within a laser oscillator. Laser gain media may vary from extended-length glass fibers to submicron-length semiconductor material.

The lowest excitation power level at which a laser's output is mainly the result of stimulated emission rather than spontaneous emission.

In a diode laser, a mode in the plane of the active layer that is perpendicular to the direction of the emitted beam.

A lateral shearing interferometer is an optical device used in interferometry to measure phase differences between two beams of light. Interferometry is a technique that combines and analyzes...

In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or nanoscopic scale. These optical lattices can be created using various techniques...

In a sequence of laser pulse emissions, the intitial pulse that often helps initiate a reaction at the target surface, whereas the trailing edge maintains the reaction.