Photonics Dictionary

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absolute white

Absolute white is a term used in color science and imaging to describe a reference white point that represents the brightest, most neutral white achievable. It serves as a standard for measuring and...

diffraction

Diffraction is a fundamental wave phenomenon that occurs when a wave encounters an obstacle or aperture, causing the wave to bend around the edges and spread out. This effect is most commonly...

gallium arsenide injection laser

A laser system consisting of a planar PN junction within a single crystal of gallium arsenide. The pair of parallel, semireflective end faces produces a Fabry-Perot resonant cavity, whereas the other...

laser parameters

Laser parameters are the characteristics that define the behavior and performance of a laser. These parameters can be categorized into several groups: spatial, temporal, spectral, and operational. ...

linear positioning stage

A linear positioning stage, also known as a linear stage or translation stage, is a precision mechanical device used to accurately move and position objects along a linear axis. These stages are...

loss budget

The total optical power loss in a system. The loss budget is often stated in terms of the transmitted power and the power required at the receiver to express the maximum acceptable amount of loss.

MEL

many-element laser; maximum excess loss (MEL) — the many element laser is a laser unit that consists of N like elements of active materials for support with the mode selection of the laser output. The mode selection properties of a many element laser have been experimentally exploited with as many as 10 like elements. Maximum excess loss is the maximum power lost within a give system (typically a fiber optic communication system) including scattering, dispersion, absorption and coupling loss.

polarization dependent loss

In passive optical components, loss that varies as the polarization state of the propagating wave changes. Expressed as the difference between the maximum and minimum loss in decibels.

power scanning laws

Laws that predict the maximum power output as a function of tube diameter for a hydrogen cyanide laser of a given discharge length and cavity losses, all other parameters being optimized.

Schottky diode

A Schottky diode is a type of semiconductor diode characterized by its low forward voltage drop and fast switching speed. It is formed by the junction of a metal and an n-type semiconductor, creating...

splitting uniformity

When splitting the output of a single optical fiber into two or more fibers, the difference in the maximum loss between any two channels.

Photonics Dictionary

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