Photonics Dictionary: L

Optical source intended to reduce bleeding as well as to abet wound or vessel healing through cauterization, used in eye treatment procedures such as for macular degeneration.

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 self-healing, index-matching, nonporous coating for optical components that can eliminate production difficulties and deficiencies associated with solid-film contamination and postdeposition...

Label-free refers to a technique or method that does not require the use of additional labels, tags, or markers to detect or identify specific components or entities. In various scientific and...

A laser cavity, also known as an optical cavity or resonator, is a fundamental component of a laser system. It is a confined region or space where light undergoes multiple reflections, leading to the...

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 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...

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...

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 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 parameters are the characteristics that define the behavior and performance of a laser. These parameters can be categorized into several groups: spatial, temporal, spectral, and operational. ...

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...

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 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...

A contact tip made of artificial sapphire (AlO2) that allows surgeons to use laser power to cut and coagulate tissue simultaneously.

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 homogeneous optical medium or coating that transmits only in particular regions of the spectrum. It is used to change or modify the total or relative energy distribution of a beam of light.

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 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...

Linear receive optics typically refers to the optical components and systems used in the reception (detection) of linearly polarized light signals in various applications, such as optical...

Linewidth, also known as spectral linewidth or line width, refers to a measure of the width of a frequency spectrum of a signal or a resonance. It indicates the range of frequencies over which the...

An alphanumeric display formed by a layer of liquid crystal material sandwiched between two sheets of glass; a transparent conductive coating on the glass is etched to form the character segments. An...

Liquid marble refers to a unique form of microscale liquid encapsulation, where small droplets of liquid are coated with a fine layer of hydrophobic powder, such as silica nanoparticles or Teflon....

Lithography is a key process used in microfabrication and semiconductor manufacturing to create intricate patterns on the surface of substrates, typically silicon wafers. It involves the transfer of...

A 30-60-90° spectrograph prism that is coated on the surface opposite the 60° angle with a reflecting film.

A long-pass filter is an optical filter that allows longer wavelengths of light to pass through while blocking or attenuating shorter wavelengths. These filters are designed to transmit light with a...

Luminescence is the emission of light that occurs without the involved substance undergoing a significant increase in temperature. In other words, it is the production and emission of light by a...

A mixture of phosphor with a trace of a radioactive element that emits faint light continually. It is used on watch dials and as a marker inside dark rooms to show the location of switches.