Datasheet

Chapter 6
Glossary and Abbreviations
CW Continuous Wave; for lasers this means operation with DC current, generating
uninterrupted emission.
DFB Distributed Feed-Back; describing a laser with an etched grating close to its active
zone, which acts as a filter, reducing overall gain for all but the wavelengths defined
by the grating period. This technique allows to produce single-mode lasers also
for pulsed mode operation.
FP Fabry-P´erot; describing a laser whose emission spectrum is only defined by the
gain of the active zone and the cavity of the cleaved laser chip, in contrast to a
DFB laser.
FTIR Fourier-Transform InfraRed; describing a type of spectrometer
LN2 Liquid Nitrogen. Used also to describe temperature ranges reachable in LN2-
cooled systems with Dewars (approximatively 80... 130K).
MTBF Mean Time Between Failure. See Lifetime section 2.1.3, p.9).
QCL Quantum Cascade Laser.
RT Room Temperature. In a more general way meaning temperatures in the range of
-30...+50C, in contrast to cryogenic temperatures.
TE Thermo-Electrical: TE coolers use Peltier elements as semiconductor heat pump.
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