Photonics Dictionary

A device that converts stored electrical energy into light by means of a sudden electrical discharge.

A pulsed dye laser in which the excitation is provided by means of a flashlamp. Output is tunable from 335 to 850 nm, with peak power up to 7000 kW.

A high-brightness, short-duration source in which low-pressure gas initiates the discharge to vaporize material from the tube wall, leading to a high-pressure discharge of ionized wall material.

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, also called a fluorescence lifetime instrument, that measures decay curves of fluorescing samples. It generally consists of a gated pulsed flashlamp or a cavity dumped dye laser...

Holmium lasers are a type of medical laser that utilizes holmium-doped crystals as the gain medium. The term holmium laser is often associated with a specific type of laser used in urology for...

A laser crystal, also known as an active medium or gain medium, is a solid-state material used in the construction of lasers. The primary function of the laser crystal is to amplify light by...

Nd:YAG laser refers to a solid-state laser that utilizes neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:Y3Al5O12) as the gain medium. This type of laser emits light at a wavelength of 1064 nm in the...

A series of capacitors and inductors connected to the flashlamp in a pumped Nd:YAG laser system in order to regulate the pulse shape of the current delivered to the lamp at a given operating voltage.

The arc formed when the rare gas xenon is excited electrically and emits a brilliant white light. Xenon is used to fill electronic and stroboscopic flashlamps, and also large discharge tubes for...