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...

An optical source that has a luminous distribution that is uniform for all directions.

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...

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...

An artificial star used to aid in adaptive optics imaging of the sky. The guide star is provided from a telescope system on the ground and is directed into the imaged region. The wavefront...

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...

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...

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 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...

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 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 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.

A ferroelectric polycrystalline ceramic material used in optical memories for computers and as a piezoelectric transducer.

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.

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,...

Lensless microscopy, also known as computational or holographic microscopy, is an imaging technique that captures and reconstructs microscopic images without the use of traditional lenses. Instead of...

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...

A rear or front projection screen composed of minute optical surfaces that introduce a spread to the light beam that conforms approximately to the light distribution requirements of the application.

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 device that is designed to modulate a beam of light, usually from a laser source, by acting upon the beam directly. The three general types of devices operate in an acousto-optic, electro-optic or...

Linear optics refers to the study and manipulation of light in a linear and deterministic manner, where the response of optical elements is proportional to the amplitude of the incident light wave....

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...

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.

Liquid crystals are a state of matter that exhibits properties intermediate between those of conventional liquids and solid crystals. In a liquid crystal, the molecules are ordered like those in a...

A liquid crystal light valve (LCLV), also known as a spatial light modulator (SLM), is an optical device that modulates the intensity, phase, or polarization of light passing through it using liquid...

Liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) is a display technology that combines liquid crystal materials with silicon-based semiconductor technology to create high-resolution, high-quality images. LCoS...

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...

Pockels cell or dynamic optical retarder in which the electrical field is applied in a direction parallel to that of light passing through it.

The Lorentz oscillator model is a theoretical model used in physics to describe the response of a charged particle (such as an electron) to an oscillating electric field. It is particularly employed...

The total optical power loss in a system. The loss budget is often stated in terms of the transmitted power and the power required at the receiver to express the maximum acceptable amount of loss.

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...