We know that the language of laser technology can seem a little confusing at first. Here's a handy jargon buster to help you decipher it like a pro:
Ablation |
The removal of solid material using a laser beam. |
Amplitude Stability |
The variation of laser amplitude or output power over time. |
Annealing |
The laser heats the surface to change the colour of the material, depending on the temperature of the laser. |
Beam Dimensions |
The cross-sectional size of the beam. |
Beam Profile |
The measurement of a laser beam's energy output and distribution. |
Bitmap |
A graphic created from rows of different coloured pixels that together form an image. |
Co2 |
A laser which uses a small tube filled with gas. Electricity is put through these tubes and reflected onto mirrors to produce a laser beam. |
Continuous Wave |
The output of a laser that is operated in a continuous (pulse duration >0.25s) rather than a pulsed mode. |
Diode |
A light emitting diode with an optical cavity to amplify light. |
DPSS |
Diode-pumped Solid-state - a laser made by pumping a solid gain medium (e.g., a ruby) with a laser diode. |
DXF |
Drawing Interchange Format - a CAD file which is used to share drawing data between CAD programs. |
Engraving |
The laser removes material to create deep surface marks. |
Etching |
The laser melts the micro surface to created raised marks. |
Excimer Laser |
Uses a gas mixture as the gain medium. |
Fiber |
A laser which uses an optical fiber to amplify and channel light through an optical lens to produce a laser beam. |
Focal Length |
The distance from the centre of the lens to the point at which an image of a distant object is formed. |
Gain Medium |
The source of optical gain within a laser. |
Hatch |
An engraving technique which simulates a solid effect using a series of parallel lines to 'fill in' the area. |
Irradiance |
The amount of power per unit area. |
JPEG |
An image type where the degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a trade-off between size and quality. |
JSF Font |
Single line font defined by N-Lase Designer. |
LASER |
Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. |
Marking |
A group of methods for labelling materials and surfaces with lasers. |
MOPA |
A Master Oscillator Power Amplifier - a laser with a fiber amplifier to boost the output power. |
PNG |
Portable Network Graphics - a raster-graphics file format that supports lossless data compression. |
Pulse Duration |
The duration of a laser pulse; usually measured as the time interval between the half-power points on the leading and trailing edges of the pulse. |
Pulsed Laser |
A laser that delivers its energy in the form of a single pulse or a train of pulses (pulse duration <0.25s). |
Rotary |
A device with 360 rotation which allows a laser to mark objects with a curved surface. |
Source |
Adds energy to the laser system such as a flash lamp or electrical current. |
UV |
A laser which passes a standard wavelength laser through crystals to reduce the wavelength to produce a UV laser beam. |
Vector |
Vector files are images that are built by mathematical formulas that establish points on a grid, as opposed to pixels. |
Watt (W) |
The basic unit of power (J/s). |
Wavelength |
The distance between two successive points on a periodic wave that have the same phase |
Workspace |
The rectangle or circular area in the main interface window. Any object drawn in this area will be marked. |
Ablation |
The removal of solid material using a laser beam. |