A

• AOM – acousto-optic modulator
  Acousto-optic modulator
  An acousto-optic modulator , also called a Bragg cell, uses the acousto-optic effect to diffract and shift the frequency of light using sound waves . They are used in lasers for Q-switching, telecommunications for signal modulation, and in spectroscopy for frequency control. A piezoelectric...
  
  
• APD – avalanche photodiode
  Avalanche photodiode
  An avalanche photodiode is a highly sensitive semiconductor electronic device that exploits the photoelectric effect to convert light to electricity. APDs can be thought of as photodetectors that provide a built-in first stage of gain through avalanche multiplication. From a functional standpoint,...
  
  
• APM – additive-pulse mode locking
• ASE – amplified spontaneous emission
  Amplified spontaneous emission
  Amplified spontaneous emission or superluminescence is light, produced by spontaneous emission, that has been optically amplified by the process of stimulated emission in a gain medium. It is inherent in the field of random lasers....
  
  
• ATD - above threshold dissociation
• ATI - above threshold ionization
  Above threshold ionization
  Above Threshold Ionization – in quantum mechanics ionization of the atom with the electromagnetic radiation with violation of Einstein formula i.e. when the kinetic energy of emitted electrons is larger than the difference between the photon energy and the ionization energy or the work function...
  
  
• AWG – arrayed waveguide grating
  Arrayed waveguide grating
  Arrayed waveguide gratings are commonly used as optical multiplexers in wavelength division multiplexed systems. These devices are capable of multiplexing a large number of wavelengths into a single optical fiber, thereby increasing the transmission capacity of optical networks considerably.The...
  
  

C

• CEO – carrier-envelope offset
• CPA – chirped-pulse amplification
• CW – continuous wave
• CWDM – coarse wavelength division multiplexing

D

• DBR – distributed Bragg reflector
  Distributed Bragg reflector
  A distributed Bragg reflector is a reflector used in waveguides, such as optical fibers. It is a structure formed from multiple layers of alternating materials with varying refractive index, or by periodic variation of some characteristic of a dielectric waveguide, resulting in periodic variation...
  
  
• DCM – dispersion-compensation module or double-chirped mirror
• DFB laser – distributed feedback laser
  Distributed feedback laser
  A distributed feedback laser is a type of laser diode, quantum cascade laser or optical fibre laser where the active region of the device is periodically structured as a diffraction grating...
  
  
• DFG – difference-frequency generation
• DIAL – differential absorption LIDAR
• DOS – density of states
  Density of states
  In solid-state and condensed matter physics, the density of states of a system describes the number of states per interval of energy at each energy level that are available to be occupied by electrons. Unlike isolated systems, like atoms or molecules in gas phase, the density distributions are not...
  
  
• DPSS – diode pumped solid state
• DWDM – dense wavelength division multiplexing

E

• ECDL – external cavity diode laser
• EDC – electronic dispersion compensation
• EDFA – erbium-doped fiber amplifier
• Er:YAG – erbium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet
  Er:YAG laser
  Er:YAG lasers are solid-state lasers whose lasing medium is erbium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet . Er:YAG lasers typically emit light with a wavelength of 2940 nm, which is infrared light. Unlike Nd:YAG lasers, the output of an Er:YAG laser is strongly absorbed by water because of atomic resonances...
  
  , Er:Y₃Al₅O₁₂
• EOM – electro-optic modulator
  Electro-optic modulator
  Electro-optic modulator is an optical device in which a signal-controlled element displaying electro-optic effect is used to modulate a beam of light. The modulation may be imposed on the phase, frequency, amplitude, or polarization of the modulated beam...
  
  
• ESA – excited state absorption

F

• FEL – free electron laser
  Free electron laser
  A free-electron laser, or FEL, is a laser that shares the same optical properties as conventional lasers such as emitting a beam consisting of coherent electromagnetic radiation which can reach high power, but which uses some very different operating principles to form the beam...
  
  
• FREAG – frequency-resolved electro-absorption gating
• FROG – frequency-resolved optical gating
  Frequency-resolved optical gating
  In optics, frequency-resolved optical gating is a derivative of autocorrelation, but is far superior in its ability to measure ultrafast optical pulse shapes...
  
  
• FWM – four-wave mixing
  Four-wave mixing
  Four-wave mixing is an intermodulation phenomenon in optical systems, whereby interactions between 3 wavelengths produce a 4th wavelength in the signal. It is similar to the third-order intercept point in electrical systems...
  
  

G

• GRENOUILLE – grating-eliminated no-nonsense observation of ultrafast incident laser light e-fields

L

• LASEK – laser-assisted sub-epithelial keratectomy
• LASER – light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
• LASIK – laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (eye surgery)
• LBO – lithium triborate
  Lithium triborate
  Lithium triborate LBO is a non-linear optics crystal. It has a wide transparency range, moderately high nonlinear coupling, high damage threshold and desirable chemical and mechanical properties. This crystal is often used for second harmonic generation of Nd:YAG lasers...
  
  
• LiDAR - light detection and ranging
• LLLT – low-level laser therapy

M

• MASER – microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
  Maser
  A maser is a device that produces coherent electromagnetic waves through amplification by stimulated emission. Historically, “maser” derives from the original, upper-case acronym MASER, which stands for "Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation"...
  
  
• MIIPS – multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan
  Multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan
  Multiphoton intrapulse interference phase scan is a method used in ultrashort laser technology that simultaneously measures , and compensates femtosecond laser pulses using an adaptive pulse shaper....
  
  

N

• Nd:YAG – neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet
  Nd:YAG laser
  Nd:YAG is a crystal that is used as a lasing medium for solid-state lasers. The dopant, triply ionized neodymium, typically replaces yttrium in the crystal structure of the yttrium aluminium garnet , since they are of similar size...
  
  , Nd:Y₃Al₅O₁₂
• Nd:YCOB – neodymium-doped YCOB
  Nd:YCOB
  Nd-doped YCOB is a nonlinear optical crystal, which is commonly used as an active laser medium. It can be grown from a melt by the Czochralski technique. It belongs to the monoclinic system with space group Cs2-Cm. Each neodymium ion replaces a yttrium ion in the YCOB crystal structure.-Parameters...
  
  , YCa₄O(BO₃)₃

O

• OC – output coupler
  Output coupler
  An output coupler is a partially reflective mirror used in lasers to extract a portion of the laser beam from the optical resonator....
  
  
• OPO – optical parametric oscillator
  Optical parametric oscillator
  An optical parametric oscillator is a parametric oscillator which oscillates at optical frequencies. It converts an input laser wave into two output waves of lower frequency by means of second order nonlinear optical interaction. The sum of the output waves frequencies is equal to the input wave...
  
  
• OPA – optical parametric amplifier
  Optical parametric amplifier
  An optical parametric amplifier, abbreviated OPA, is a laser light source that emits light of variable wavelengths by an optical parametric amplification process.-Optical parametric generation :...
  
   / optical parametric amplification
• OPCPA – optical parametric chirped pulse amplification

S

• SHG – second harmonic generation
  Second harmonic generation
  An optical frequency multiplier is a nonlinear optical device, in which photons interacting with a nonlinear material are effectively "combined" to form new photons with greater energy, and thus higher frequency...
  
  
• SLM – single longitudinal mode
  Longitudinal mode
  For the longitudinal mode of conduction of electric currents, see Common modeA longitudinal mode of a resonant cavity is a particular standing wave pattern formed by waves confined in the cavity. The longitudinal modes correspond to the wavelengths of the wave which are reinforced by constructive...
  
  
• SPIDER – spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction
  Spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction
  In ultrafast optics, spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction is an ultrashort pulse measurement technique.-The basics:...
  
  
• SPM – self-phase modulation
  Self-phase modulation
  Self-phase modulation is a nonlinear optical effect of light-matter interaction.An ultrashort pulse of light, when travelling in a medium, will induce a varying refractive index of the medium due to the optical Kerr effect...
  
  

T

• TE – transverse electric mode
• TEA – transverse electrical discharge in gas at atmospheric pressure
  TEA laser
  A TEA laser is a transversely-excited atmospheric-pressure laser.-Invention:The CO2 TEA laser was invented in the late 1960s by Dr Jacques Beaulieu working at the Defence Research Establishment, Valcartier, in Quebec, Canada...
  
  
• TEM – transverse electromagnetic mode
• TM – transverse magnetic mode
• THG – third harmonic generation

V

• VCSEL – vertical cavity surface-emitting laser
• VECSEL – vertical external cavity surface-emitting laser

Y

• YAG – yttrium aluminium garnet
  Yttrium aluminium garnet
  Yttrium aluminium garnet is a synthetic crystalline material of the garnet group. It is also one of three phases of the yttria-aluminium composite, the other two being yttrium aluminium monoclinic and yttrium aluminium perovskite . YAG is commonly used as a host material in various solid-state...
  
  , Y₃Al₅O₁₂
• YAM - yttrium aluminium monoclinic
• YAP - yttrium aluminium perovskite