Terminoligy Question

[boone]

What exactly does it mean when a laser is said to be "Q-switched" :?:

[Spec]

http://www.rp-photonics.com/q_switched_lasers.html

Qswitching is a neat trick

Q stands for "quality" and for the application of lasers it defines the "losses in the resonator" more specifically a very quick change in the losses of the known resonator.

It is able to produce extremely powerful, extremely short bursts of coherent light, sometimes less than 10 nanoseconds long by temporarially bouncing the beam between mirrors(or other such saturatable reflector) while continually pumping the gain medium. At the end of this "cycle" the light has been amplified substantially and is released in one violent pulse.

And thats how they made black silicon.

http://www.harvardmagazine.com/on-line/05025.html

Neat stuff