Photonics Dictionary: L

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a miniaturized device that integrates various laboratory functions and capabilities onto a single, compact chip. Also known as microfluidic devices, lab-on-a-chip systems are...

A diagram that shows actual component signals and the basic wiring configuration of a relay logic circuit.

A broken circle used as the test object in distinguishing visual acuity. The width of the gap in the circle is equal to the breadth of the black line and one-fifth the circle diameter. Also known as...

1. The process of wearing down the surface of a softer material by rubbing it under pressure against the surface of a harder material that has been formed in the shape opposite to that desired on the...

Laser ablation is a process that involves the removal or erosion of material from a target surface using laser energy. This technique is widely used in various scientific, industrial, and medical...

The process by which laser emission is used in measuring fluid velocity and, more specifically, the detection of air and wind velocity.The laser technique measures the amount of frequency shift...

Laser annealing is a process that involves using a laser beam to heat and modify the microstructure of a material, typically a thin film or surface layer, with the objective of improving its...

A device used for measuring the height of clouds from a position on the ground. Measurement technique uses a vertically directed beam stably positioned such that scattered radiation may be detected...

A surgical device used to deliver laser light. Specifically,contact tips are made with artificially grown sapphire which is precisely cut to an orientation which permits efficient light transmission....

A natural or mechanical system adversely affected by the influence of laser radiation. During laser damage the common effect of the radiation on the surface of interest is heat accumulation due to...

The laser damage threshold refers to the maximum level of laser intensity that a material can withstand without experiencing damage. It is a critical parameter in laser applications and is...

A process of forming ions within a given molecular species by incident laser light. The molecular species may remain intact, without fragmentation, during soft desorption whereas molecular samples...

High power laser ablation device that by pulsed operation produces holes of controllable dimension on the scale of microns. Laser drill applications include turbine manufacturing and surface metal...

Means of correcting laser postweld shift. The correction procedure is applied to optoelectronic systems such as laser diode butterfly modules.

Laser lithotripsy is a medical procedure that uses laser energy to break down or fragment stones in various parts of the body, particularly in the urinary and biliary systems. The term "lithotripsy"...

Laser marking is a process in which a laser beam is used to mark or engrave a surface by altering its properties or appearance. This technique is widely used for labeling, identification, and...

Laser optics refers to a broad category of optical components and systems designed for manipulating and controlling laser light. Laser optics play a crucial role in shaping the characteristics of...

Laser peening is a surface enhancement technique used to improve the mechanical properties of materials, particularly metals. It involves the use of high-energy laser pulses to generate shockwaves on...

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a type of additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing technology that uses a high-power laser to selectively fuse or melt layers of powdered material to build up a...

A laser rangefinder is a device that uses laser technology to measure the distance between the device and a target. It operates on the principle of measuring the time it takes for a laser beam to...

Use of a laser to solder joints by melting the solder coatings on the mating components.

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...

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...

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

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...

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 method of measuring microbending losses in optical fiber by sandwiching a length of fiber between two parallel plates, with 150-grit sandpaper on the bottom plate. Different weights are placed on...

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...

A Laurent polarimeter is an instrument used in optics for measuring the rotation of plane-polarized light caused by optically active substances. Optical rotation, also known as optical activity, is a...

In physics, the law of reversibility is often associated with the concept of reversibility in thermodynamics. The law asserts that any process that occurs in a closed system can, in theory, be...

A lens blank is a piece of optical material in a raw, unfinished state, typically in the form of a disk or block, from which lenses are eventually fabricated. Lens blanks are made from various...

A rotating disc that holds several lenses of differing focal length about a diameter. Used to switch lenses in a system while maintaining focus.

Lens testing equipment refers to a range of specialized tools and instruments used to evaluate the optical performance, quality, and characteristics of lenses. These instruments are essential for...

A hologram formed without lenses and with the object and reference points sharing the same plane. In the initial recording, each object point produces fringes having one spatial frequency across the...

Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and reconstructs microscopic images without the use of traditional lenses. Instead of...

Lidar, short for light detection and ranging, is a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to measure distances and generate precise, three-dimensional information about the shape and...

Light diffusion refers to the process by which light is scattered or spread out in various directions as it interacts with a medium or material. Unlike direct transmission through a transparent...

The term light field refers to the spatial distribution of light rays traveling in all directions through a given space. It includes information about the intensity and direction of light rays at...

The term for an image captured by a detector and from which a dark frame, bias frame and/or flat-field frame can be subtracted during image processing.

Technique for measuring the volume bulk of materials as they move along a conveyor with an accuracy of better than 1 percent. Based on the use of high-resolution arrays of solid-state detectors, the...

Line scan refers to a method of capturing images or data by scanning a single line at a time, as opposed to capturing the entire image simultaneously. This technique is commonly used in various...

A semiconductor laser in which the naturally occurring broad linewidth has been narrowed by incorporating the laser diode into a large resonant external cavity.

A line-scan camera, also known as a line-scan image sensor or linear array camera, is a type of digital camera designed to capture images one line or row of pixels at a time, rather than a full...

A linear image sensor is a type of solid-state electronic device used to capture and convert light into electrical signals. Unlike area image sensors (such as CCD or CMOS sensors), which capture an...

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...

Multimode straight fiber capable of transporting linearly polarized light with any incident polarization angle, and in which no form of internal stress can develop that could lead to birefringence.

Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid crystals. In a liquid crystal, the molecules are ordered like those in a...