PreCise 002-00177, Manual

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10. Glossary of Laser Terminology
Activate - The action that prepares the laser to emit energy.
Active Medium - The core material of a laser that is responsible for producing a source of electromagnetic
energy when activated by a power supply. They can be a gas, liquid dye, semi-conductor chip or a man-
made rod of Yttrium, Aluminum Garnet Scandium or Gallium, or some combination of those elements.
Amplitude - The height of an electromagnetic wave as measured from the top of one wave to the lowest
point on the next wave.
App – An application program on the iPod touch ®
Articulating Arm - A device used to deliver radiant energy
Biopsy - A tissue sample removed from an area of questionable health. Used for examination and diagnosis
of a disease.
Coherent - A property of electromagnetic waves in which every wave is of the same wave length and is
in phase with the other identical waves.
Collagen - The fibrous protein that is prevalent in bone, endons, cartilage, and connective tissue.
Collimated - A characteristic of laser wave lengths where they travel in a parallel bundle and are slow to
deviate.
Continuous Wave - A temporal mode where radiant laser energy is emitted constantly for one second
without interruption.
Electromagnetic Components of Energy - Radiation consisting of electromagnetic waves where the
vertical of the wave is the electrical phase and the lateral component is a magnetic phase.
Laser light is electromagnetic energy.
Electromagnetic Waves - Time varying electric and magnetic fields propagating through space. They
vary in their wave lengths and frequency.
Electromagnetic Spectrum - A combination of all electromagnetic radiation arranged by wave length
and frequency. Light as we know it is from the visible portion of the spectrum.
Exposure - Introducing a tissue to laser energy as measured by the intensity of the power, the frequency,
and time.
Frequency - The number of complete oscillations per second of an electromagnetic wave.
Joule - A unit of energy. Expressed as milliJoules when used in dental lasers operating in the pulsed mode.
1000 milliJoules per second equal 1 Watt.
Laser - An acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Lasers are devices that utilize
standard electricity from a wall outlet to stimulate an active medium which will produce electromagnetic
energy that is collimated, coherent, and monochromatic.
Micron - One millionth of a meter. It can also be stated as 10 - 6 meter.
Mode - A stable condition of oscillation in a laser. Lasers can operate is one or more modes.
Molecule - The smallest particle of a substance that retains the property of that substance. It is composed
of one or more atoms.
Nanometer - A billionth of a meter and can also be expressed as 1 0 -9. Nanometers and microns are the
primary measures of a wave length used in dental lasers.
Photon - A quantum (unit) of radiant energy. A particle of light.
Power (Output Power) - Expressed as Watts where 1 Joule per second equals 1 Watt.
Power Density - A measure of exposure of the power in Watts delivered per square millimeter or square
centimeter.
Pulsed - A temporal emission of laser energy that is distributed among periods where the laser is actively
emitting (on) and periods of no emission (off). The time period when the laser is not emitting
energy (off) is referred to as period of thermal relaxation and is designed to allow the tissue to cool
between bursts of energy.
Quantum - The smallest unit of measure for radiant (light) energy.
Radiant Energy - The vertical component of electromagnetic waves as they travel through space. It is
measured in Joules or milliJoules.
Spontaneous Emission - As an electron accumulates incident energy, it is elevated to a higher energy
orbit where it will become unstable and must emit a photon.
Stimulated Emission - An external source of energy from a power supply stimulates the unstable electron
to return to a more stable energy level by emitting an additional photon.
Velocity - The rate of speed of an electromagnetic wave as it travels through space.
Watt - The measure of power is Watts. As used in lasers, 1 Joule per second is equal to 1 Watt.