Photonics Dictionary: L

Term for service offered by a vendor who leases a particular wavelength to a customer through DWDM technology. Lambda services are often associated with the leasing of dark fiber.

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...

Optical fiber with a large core, often a step-index fiber; "large'' is at times defined as greater than 85 µm.

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"...

A laser device intended for crushing urinary tract stones so they can be flushed from the body. Light is introduced via fiber optic delivery. A common wavelength used is 2.1 microns produced by...

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 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 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 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...

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.

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 fiber used in conjunction with a source to excite the modes of another fiber in a particular fashion.

In a fiber optic cable, the longitudinal length required for the transmission media, wrapped around a central member, to complete one helical wrap. Also called pitch.

Transparent matter that usually is drawn into a cylindrical, pyramidical or conical shape through which light is channeled from one end to the other by total internal reflections. Optical fibers are...

Technology that relies on a highly efficient photodetector that can detect incoming light signals at one frequency and transmit outgoing signals at another, thus permitting the sending and receiving...

A defect in the cleaved end face of an optical fiber, in the form of a sharp protrusion at the edge of the fiber.

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.

An optical fiber with a hollow core filled with a liquid material that has a higher refractive index than the solid surrounding it.

A device used to evaluate the quality of fiber optic splices made in the field by injecting light into the cladding of the fiber and measuring the output at the other end of the splice.

A fiber optic component or system designed in such a way that it can be operated by people without specialized knowledge of the field.

In fiber optic cable, containment of the fiber or fibers within an outer protective tube in which they can move to some extent. The interstices usually are filled with an insulating material. See...

Optical fiber that transmits a greater percentage of input light than does high-loss step-index fiber. Low-loss fiber requires higher purity materials and a more sophisticated drawing process and...

Fiber that emits luminescent radiation excited by ultraviolet, x-ray or high-energy particles.