Photonics Dictionary: M

Clear All Filters x lasers x M x
medical lasers

Medical lasers are devices that produce intense beams of light with specific characteristics and properties, which are used for various medical applications. These lasers emit light in the form of...

mode-locked lasers

Mode-locking is a technique used in lasers to produce ultrashort pulses of light with durations on the order of picoseconds, femtoseconds, or even attoseconds. This method synchronizes the phases of...

machine vision lighting

Machine vision lighting refers to the use of specific lighting techniques and equipment in the field of machine vision, which is a technology that enables machines to capture and interpret visual...

magnetic rotation spectroscopy

Technique in which the polarization rotation of light, and its relationship to the magnetic field strength can be analyzed and related to various experimental parameters when passed through a...

magnetorheological finishing

Magnetorheological finishing (MRF) is a precision optics polishing technique used for shaping and finishing optical surfaces to achieve extremely high levels of smoothness and accuracy. It is...

Maldi

matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization

maser

An acronym for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. Predecessor to the laser, the maser or 'microwave laser' was the first device to produce coherent electromagnetic waves,...

mask

1. A framelike structure that serves to restrict the viewing area of the screen when placed before a television picture tube. 2. In photolithography, a photomask (or mask) is typically a patterned...

masks for evaporation/deposition

In the context of thin film deposition processes such as evaporation or sputtering, masks are used to selectively deposit material onto substrates, creating patterns or structures with precise...

master oscillation -> injection seeding

The use of a small ultrastable master oscillator (a diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser) to achieve single-frequency operation of a large pulsed Nd:YAG host laser, providing improved bandwidth and temporal...

Matrix optics

The linear relationship between input and output optical fields for a given optical system or application that allows the use of a matrix and matrix algebra to define an optical system, or series of...

matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization

Process of analysis in which the analyte substance is distributed in a matrix before laser desorption. This method avoids the mass limitations associated with laser desorption and possibly enhances...

maximum permissable exposure

The maximum level of laser radiation that a person may be exposed to without adverse biological effects.

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.

metal vapor laser

Devices in which the lasing medium is a vapor of metal atoms or ions, sometimes mixed with another gas. Metal vapor lasers use a variety of metal types to generate a variety of laser lines for...

micro-optics

Micro-optics refers to the design, fabrication, and application of optical components and systems at a microscale level. These components are miniaturized optical elements that manipulate light at a...

microbubble resonator

A microbubble resonator is a device used in photonics and optical physics for the precise manipulation of light waves. It consists of a micro-sized, gas-filled spherical cavity (the "microbubble")...

microchannel spatial light modulator

A device to modulate spatially a collimated coherent beam of light with input data in optical data processing. It uses a photocathode mounted on a microchannel plate, which amplifies an electron...

microphonic noise

Output noise in a laser beam resulting from acoustic disturbances of mirror separation or orientation. Such disturbances may come either from the plasma or from vibration of external sources.

micropit

A laser-induced scar on experimental bare glass surfaces usually attributable to threshold damage and indicative of isolated damage-susceptible areas in the glass.