Optical Systems
In optics, the Q factor of a resonant cavity is given by
where is the resonant frequency, is the stored energy in the cavity, and is the power dissipated. The optical Q is equal to the ratio of the resonant frequency to the bandwidth of the cavity resonance. The average lifetime of a resonant photon in the cavity is proportional to the cavity's Q. If the Q factor of a laser's cavity is abruptly changed from a low value to a high one, the laser will emit a pulse of light that is much more intense than the laser's normal continuous output. This technique is known as Q-switching.
Read more about this topic: Q Factor
Famous quotes containing the words optical and/or systems:
“There is an optical illusion about every person we meet.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Not out of those, on whom systems of education have exhausted their culture, comes the helpful giant to destroy the old or to build the new, but out of unhandselled savage nature, out of terrible Druids and Berserkirs, come at last Alfred and Shakespeare.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)