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40 terms

Photonics Dictionary

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lasing medium

The material that produces stimulated emission from within a laser oscillator. Laser gain media may vary from extended-length glass fibers to submicron-length semiconductor material.

lasing threshold

The lowest excitation power level at which a laser's output is mainly the result of stimulated emission rather than spontaneous emission.

laser medium -> lasing medium

The material that produces stimulated emission from within a laser oscillator. Laser gain media may vary from extended-length glass fibers to submicron-length semiconductor material.

prelasing

When uncontrolled laser energy leaks from a laser cavity prematurely, it causes serious damage to optical components and significant downtime for repair.

chelate laser

A laser having a rare-earth chelate within a plastic host as the lasing material. The chelate laser is easily pumped and has a high quantum efficiency and narrow emission lines.

collisional excitation

A method of lasing in which free electrons in a laser-produced plasma collide with neonlike ions to excite electrons to states that decay at different speeds, producing a population inversion.

copper vapor laser -> 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...

crystal laser -> solid-state laser

A solid-state laser is a type of laser that uses a solid gain medium (as opposed to a liquid or gas) to produce coherent light. The term "solid-state" refers to the fact that the active medium, where...

driving current

The minimum electrical current input needed to initiate lasing.

electric CO laser

An electrically excited laser having carbon monoxide as the lasing material and in which lasing occurs in a partial inversion between adjacent, vibrational fields. Vibrational energy is cycled...

Er:YAG laser

An Er:YAG laser is a type of solid-state laser that uses a crystal made of erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Er:Y3Al5O12) as the gain medium. The erbium (Er) ions are introduced into the crystal...

erbium-doped fiber amplifier

An optical fiber that can be used to amplify an optical input. Erbium rare earth ions are added to the fiber core material as a dopant in typical levels of a few hundred parts per million. The fiber...

excitation

1. The process by which an atom acquires energy sufficient to raise it to a quantum state higher than its ground state. 2. More specifically with respect to lasers, the process by which the material...

fiber laser

A fiber laser is a type of laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth ions such as erbium, ytterbium, or neodymium. Fiber lasers generate coherent light through...

free-electron laser

A free-electron laser (FEL) is a type of laser that generates coherent, high-intensity electromagnetic radiation by using a beam of accelerated electrons as the lasing medium. Unlike traditional...

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...

gold vapor laser -> 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...

helium-neon laser

A helium-neon (HeNe) laser is a type of gas laser that emits visible red light at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. It operates based on the principle of stimulated emission of photons from excited helium...

laser active elements

Laser active elements typically refers to the substances or materials within a laser system that play a critical role in the amplification of light through the process of stimulated emission. These...

laser head

Contains elements which produce lasing., e.g. gain medium, oscillator mirrors as well as housing.

laser output

The laser output refers to the generated and emitted light produced by a laser system. This output is characterized by several key properties that distinguish lasers from other light sources. These...

laser rod

In a solid-state laser, the material (Nd:YAG, Nd:glass, ruby) in which lasing action takes place.

laser surgery

Laser surgery refers to a medical procedure in which a laser, or focused beam of light, is used as a precision tool to cut, vaporize, coagulate, or otherwise modify tissues for therapeutic or...

liquid laser

A laser that uses a substance in the liquid state, such as an organic dye, as the active lasing medium.

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...

multiple-beam laser

A laser having a Q-switching method that allows separate parallel volumes of the lasing material to act independently of each other and produce several separate beams. It is useful in high-speed...

Nd:glass -> neodymium glass

Glass containing small quantities of neodymium oxide that is used as a filter plate in color television or as a lasing medium (Nd:glass) in solid-state lasers.

Nd:YAG laser

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...

negative temperature -> population inversion

The condition in which there are more atomic systems in the upper of two energy levels than in the lower, so stimulated emission will predominate over stimulated absorption. This condition may be...

neodymium glass

Glass containing small quantities of neodymium oxide that is used as a filter plate in color television or as a lasing medium (Nd:glass) in solid-state lasers.

organic dye laser

A laser having a lasing material that is a fluorescing organic dye. Depending on the dye used, it can produce emission in any part of the visible spectrum into the near-infrared and ultraviolet, and...

photopumping

The use of light to initiate the lasing process. See optical pumping.

population inversion

The condition in which there are more atomic systems in the upper of two energy levels than in the lower, so stimulated emission will predominate over stimulated absorption. This condition may be...

Q-switch

A device used to rapidly change the Q of an optical resonator. It is used in the optical resonator of a laser to prevent lasing action until a high level of inversion (optical gain and energy...

q-switched operation

Q-switched operation, or q-switching, is a technique used in lasers to produce short and intense pulses of light. The term "Q" in q-switching stands for "quality factor," which is a measure of the...

rotational transition

One of the types of change in the energy levels of molecules or atoms in a laser that can result in lasing action. Because the energy levels between rotational states are small, such lasing action is...

solarization

1. The reduction in the developable density of a photographic emulsion that has been extremely overexposed. 2. In a laser system, damage resulting from ultraviolet radiation that degrades the lasing...

solid-state laser

threshold current

The minimum driving current corresponding to lasing threshold at a specified temperature. (Ith).

vibronic transition

A type of change in the energy levels of molecules in a laser that results in lasing action. Vibronic transitions are those between one electronic level and another.

Photonics Dictionary