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glossary

Laser: acronym of : « light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation » ; device emitting spatially and temporally coherent light radiation based on the stimulated emission
Fabry Perot cavity: resonating cavity made of two reflecting surfaces
Gaussian beam: beam with a gaussian distribution of intensity in the plane perpendicular to the direction of propagation - fundamental transverse mode of a laser
Waist: position along the propagation axis where a laser beam has the smallest size
Mirror: surface reflecting light rays symmetrically regarding the normal to the surface (specular reflexion) and therefore without scattering them
Rayleigh range: for gaussian or embedded gaussian beams, distance in the propagation direction from the waist to a position where the beam radius is increased by a factor of square root of 2
Wavelength ( of a light wave ): distance between two consecutive identical states of the electric ( or magnetic ) field