In laser physics, the term laser oscillator is sometimes used in laser devices in order to clearly distinguish it from an optical amplifier, which is amplified by stimulated radiation but without laser oscillation or in combination with an oscillator, amplifier.
A laser can be thought of as a high-frequency optical oscillator (the optical frequency is usually in the order of hundreds of terahertz), which consists of an optical amplifier and a resonator for optical feedback.
Similarly, an optical parametric oscillator is a device that contains an optical parametric amplifier within an optical resonator. Unlike laser oscillators, it utilizes a nonlinear amplification.
In addition, there are photoelectron oscillators, which produce a series of short pulses of light.
Be the first to comment