Photonics Dictionary

An ablative wall flashlamp typically refers to a type of flashlamp used in certain high-energy laser systems. Components include: Flashlamp: This is a device that produces an intense pulse...

Absorption spectroscopy is a fundamental analytical technique used to study the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter. It involves measuring the absorption of light by a sample...

Accessible emission typically refers to the portion of emitted radiation (light, particles, etc.) from a source that can be effectively detected, measured, or utilized by an observer or device. This...

Accessible radiation refers to the portion of radiation from a source that can be reached or detected by humans, instruments, or devices under specific conditions of use. This term is often used in...

An acousto-optic modulator (AOM) is a device that utilizes the acousto-optic effect to modulate the amplitude, phase, frequency, or polarization of a laser beam or other coherent light source. It...

An active medium is a material or substance used in various optical devices and systems, where it plays a critical role in amplifying light or producing laser beams through the process of stimulated...

Adaptive optics (AO) is a technology used to improve the performance of optical systems by reducing the effects of atmospheric distortions. The Earth's atmosphere can cause light passing through it...

Additive manufacturing (AM), also known as 3D printing, is a manufacturing process that involves creating three-dimensional objects by adding material layer by layer. This is in contrast to...

An ammonia maser is a device that amplifies microwave radiation using ammonia gas molecules in a process analogous to how lasers amplify visible light through stimulated emission of radiation. The...

A laser radar application in which a sequence of direct measurements of target position is fed into a tracking filter to produce refined estimates of both present and future target positions.

An antireflection coating (AR coating) is a thin film or coating applied to optical surfaces, such as lenses or windows, to minimize unwanted reflections and increase the transmission of light...

An argon-fluoride (ArF) excimer laser is a type of ultraviolet laser that operates using a mixture of argon and fluorine gases. Excimer lasers are a class of gas lasers that emit light in the UV...

gas laser using ionized argon as the active medium and applying electronic excitation in order to produce the laser light

An aspheric lens is a type of lens whose surface profiles deviate from the traditional spherical shape. Unlike spherical lenses, which have a constant curvature across their surfaces, aspheric lenses...

Formulaic compensation to correct laser ranging data for the effects of horizontal refractivity gradients; it requires the horizontal pressure and temperature gradient at laser sites, which are...

Attosecond photonics sources refer to devices or systems that generate extremely short pulses of light on the order of attoseconds (1 attosecond = 10-18 seconds). These ultrafast light pulses are in...

Attosecond-pump attosecond-probe spectroscopy (APAP) is an advanced technique in ultrafast spectroscopy that allows scientists to study the dynamics of electronic processes occurring on extremely...

A method of designing lasers whereby the laser rod is cut into elliptical discs and cooled by running water over the disc surfaces. The cooling circuit decreases the radial temperature gradients in...

An axicon is a type of optical component characterized by its conical shape and its ability to transform a collimated Gaussian beam of light into a ring-shaped beam with a gradually increasing...

The action of a biological system responding to a single or multiple coherent particles of light produced from a laser source. Examples of laser biostimulation include: retinal interaction of light...

In optics and photonics, ceramics refer to advanced ceramic materials that possess unique optical properties, making them suitable for various applications involving the manipulation and control of...

A laser that relies on chemical activity instead of electrical energy to produce the pumping action necessary to form pulses of light.

Chirped mirrors are optical devices designed to manipulate the spectral properties of ultrashort laser pulses. They consist of multiple layers of dielectric coatings deposited on a substrate, where...

A technique whereby two laser beams, one at an excitation wavelength and the second at a wavelength that produces Stokes Raman scattering, interact coherently in a sample, producing a strong...

A fiber optic communications system that works on the principles of homodyning or heterodyning. The transmitting laser produces an optical wave that is modulated in amplitude, phase or frequency by...

A light source that is capable of producing radiation with waves vibrating in phase. The laser is an example of a coherent light source.

A method of lasing in which free electrons in a laser-produced plasma collide with neonlike ions to excite electrons to states that decay at different speeds, producing a population inversion.

Certain color centers in the alkali halides have been optically pumped to produce efficient tunable pulsed and continuous-wave (CW) lasers emitting in the range of 0.8 to 3.3 µm.

A computer-generated hologram (CGH) is a holographic image produced using computational methods and algorithms, rather than traditional optical techniques. CGHs are generated entirely in digital form...

A type of laser welding of thin materials using a defocused or low-power carbon dioxide laser beam. The energy is absorbed by the material through conduction and melts the material to produce an edge...

A custom optic refers to an optical component that is designed, manufactured, and tailored to meet specific requirements or applications. These optics can include lenses, mirrors, prisms, filters, or...

A cylindrical lens is an optical component that has different curvatures along its two orthogonal axes, resulting in a shape resembling a cylinder. Unlike spherical lenses, which have the same...

A deep-ultraviolet (DUV) laser is a type of laser that emits light in the deep ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically with wavelengths ranging from about 200 nm down to 10 nm....

Diamond turning, also known as diamond machining or diamond cutting, is a precision machining process used to produce high-quality optical surfaces and components with extremely tight tolerances. It...

Diamond turning refers to a precision machining process used to produce complex optical components, particularly lenses and mirrors, from materials such as metals, plastics, and crystalline materials...

Medical diagnostic (x-ray) imaging using laser printers to produce high-resolution digital hard copy instead of film exposed by phosphor-intensifying screens, thus providing radiologists with greater...

A diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) is a type of laser system that uses semiconductor diode lasers to pump energy into a solid gain medium, resulting in the generation of coherent light. This...

A device that provides simple and reliable laser power and energy measurement. Essentially a heat flux sensor producing an output proportional to the power, rather than the energy input.

A laser having a rod that is a stacked array of discs immersed in a transparent flowing coolant fluid. In this way, the cooling rate is increased, the temperature gradients are basically parallel to...

A device similar to distributed feedback lasers in construction and operation, but in which the period grating that produces feedback is removed from the gain region to simplify fabrication. The...

An imaging process, similar to specific Doppler mapping radar techniques, that utilizes a laser, an optical imaging system, and a line array of photodetectors and spectrum analyzers. The laser...

Holographic recording whereby the object is illuminated by two pulses, separated by a time interval, from a Q-switched laser source. Each pulse is divided into reference and object beams, and...

A gas laser equipped with Brewster windows and concave mirrors (having unlike reflective properties) at each end of the tube to produce two separate wavelengths at the same time.

Dual-axis laser is a laser device or system capable of emitting laser beams along two orthogonal axes (typically X and Y axes) concurrently. This allows for precise control and manipulation of the...

Dual-chirped optical parametric amplification (DC-OPA) is an advanced technique in ultrafast laser technology used to amplify femtosecond laser pulses to extremely high energies while maintaining...

A laser using a dye solution as its active medium. Its output is a short pulse of broad spectral content and its achievable gain is high. Dye lasers function at room temperature. Synchronous pumping...