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...

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 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 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 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...

Visible laser radiation, often optically expanded and collimated, used to induced temporary blindness from within a walking distance of an impending target. Laser dazzle systems may be in a handheld...

A laser device used to establish a location or target usually for detection by an impact source e.g. missiles and guided munitions. Laser designation sources utilize a system configuration which is...

A laser diode module is a compact device that incorporates a laser diode, optics, and often other components into a single package. These modules are designed to provide a convenient and efficient...

Laser drift typically refers to a phenomenon where the frequency or wavelength of a laser source gradually changes over time. In the context of lasers, stability in terms of frequency or wavelength...

A narrow linewidth optically transmissive or reflective component intended for use with a highly monochromatic or single mode source.

Technique using functional optical microscope with the addition of a coherent source collinear with the image path. The laser light is intended to scan the sampled plane and acquire information from...

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...

Contains the light or beam path within a laser device. The oscillator uses reflective optical components that are oriented to obtain multiple confined reflections.

Production of a repeated image of a transmitted beam through a diffractive optical element such as a holographic card or component disk. Creating moving or stationary optical designs via a system of...

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.

Handheld optical laser device containing a semiconductor or DPSS source. The output is corrected via internal collimating optics. For typical use the output is reduced to eyesafe operation power. (5...

An instrument usually consisting of a very long interferometer, 3 to 800 m, and a laser light source for the study and measurement of strain, such as those formed by earth tides and gravitational...

A system that uses a continuous-wave laser to measure the velocity of an object by focusing the laser beam on the object, perpendicular to its direction of motion. An optical grating receives...

The variation of the electronically detected signal with respect to the scaled version of the classical optical signal incident on the photomultiplier tube.

Laser viewing cards, also known as laser alignment cards or laser safety cards, are specialized cards or sheets designed to visualize laser beams or assist in aligning optical equipment while...

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...

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 power loss caused by transverse or lateral deviation from optimum alignment of source to optical waveguide, waveguide to waveguide, or waveguide to detector.

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...

In photonics, a lattice refers to a periodic arrangement of optical elements or structures, often on a microscopic or nanoscopic scale. These optical lattices can be created using various techniques...

The angle between the light input propagation vector and the optical axis of an optical fiber or fiber bundle.

The numerical aperture of an optical system used to couple (launch) power into an optical waveguide.

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 an optical waveguide, a mode whose field decays monotonically for a finite distance in the transverse direction but which becomes oscillatory everywhere beyond that finite distance.

In an optical waveguide, a ray for which geometric optics would predict total internal reflection at the core boundary, but which suffers loss by virtue of the curved core boundary.

An erecting prism that inverts and reverses the image. It displaces the optical axis but does not deviate it.

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...

The metal tube that maintains the optical components of a lens in proper relationship. Some lenses are mounted in metal cells, which in turn are screwed to the front and rear of a shutter or lens...

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 lens is a transparent optical device that focuses or diverges light, allowing it to pass through and form an image. Lenses are commonly used in optical systems, such as cameras, telescopes,...

An ophthalmic instrument used to measure the magnitude and direction of the maximum and minimum powers of a spectacle lens, and mark the optical center of the lens by an ink dot. When the lens to be...

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...

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.

Also known as single plane illumination microscopy (SPIM), this process was designed for imaging of sensitive samples and fast biological processes in vivo. In this method, a light sheet illuminates...

The fraction of incident light power in an optical modulator that is available to the output beam.

With respect to display systems, a device that uses an independent light source and a control-layer medium, the active optical element, to convert an electrical charge image to an optical image....

The spectroscopic analysis of optical line shapes and frequency shifts, using the technique of light beating; i.e., the mixing of two narrowband optical components to produce an AC component in the...

The angle subtended by two points or lines that are just far enough apart to be distinguished as separate. The ability of an optical device to resolve two points or lines is called resolving power...

In the spectral sense, an optical source that emits one or more spectrally narrow lines as opposed to a continuous spectrum. In the geometric sense, an optical source whose active (emitting) area...