What are PCSELs? PCSELs are a unique type of semiconductor laser. To understand them, it's useful to compare them to two other types of semiconductor laser: Edge Emitting semiconductor Lasers (EELs) ...

Summary Mie Scattering describes the scattering of an electromagnetic plane wave such as an RF or optical signal by a homogenous sphere, such as a dust particle in the atmosphere. Unlike Rayleigh ...

Summary Underwater Optical Communication (UWOC) is a type of FSO communication for underwater applications. The increased density of water compared to air makes challenges such as absorption, ...

Overview Random Unitary Beamforming (RUB) is a beamforming technique that was originally developed for Multiple-input multiple output (MIMO) wireless systems. In Free-space optical (FSO) ...

Summary Mach-Zender Modulators (MZM) are electro-optic devices used to encode information into a laser beam before transmission, using materials such as Lithium Niobate (LiNbO₃) that exhibit the P ...

Overview Self-defocusing in free-space optics (FSO) describes the divergence of a laser beam beyond that predicted by diffraction. It commonly results from thermal blooming—absorption of beam energy b ...

Self-Focusing in Free Space Optics and Nonlinear Media Self-focusing is a nonlinear optical phenomenon where a beam of light propagating through a medium induces a refractive index change that causes ...

Rayleigh Length Summary Rayleigh length is a fundamental concept in optics that describes how far a collimated beam, typically a Gaussian beam, remains tightly focused before beginning to diverge ...

Quantum noise refers to the fundamental limits of signal precision that arise from the laws of quantum physics. Unlike classical noise—which comes from external sources like heat, interference, or i ...

What Is Raman Scattering? Raman scattering is a physical process that occurs when light interacts with molecules and causes them to vibrate. Most of the time, light bounces off molecules without ...