Photonics Dictionary: Q

A contraction of quasi stellar. An astronomical object that appears to be a star but has a different, larger redshift.

A type of laser diode that operates at long pulsewidths.

A laser that generates a succession of pulses at a high enough repetition rate to appear continuous. The pump source is switched on for short intervals, nominally equal to the lifetime of the...

The transform defining that, if a reference beam is a divergent spherical wavefront, then the reconstructed image will be the equivalent of the near-field diffraction pattern of the object. Also...

The first nonlinear theory in plasma physics that details the time and space evolution of plasma wave instability from a microscopic vantage point and provides an outline of the plasma in terms of...

Single wavelength source with a larger linewidth often containing multiple longitudinal modes.

Having properties resembling those of light- waves; e.g., the propagation of waves in the television spectrum.

Made up of four elements; for instance, gadolinium, scandium, gallium and garnet (GSGG).

A qubit, short for quantum bit, is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing and quantum information processing. Unlike classical bits, which can exist in one of two states (0 or 1),...

In the dye laser, the molecule that takes out energy from the triplet state during collisions between the dye and quencher to achieve long-pulse emission.

The inhibition or elimination of one process by another process. The stimulated emission of a laser oscillator can be quenched by a pulse of radiation of the same frequency traversing the oscillator...

The time interval of no activity occurring between each pulse during transmission.