12 lines
2.4 KiB
HTML
12 lines
2.4 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" standalone="no"?>
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>software laser</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../S.html" title="S"/><link rel="previous" href="software-hoarding.html" title="software hoarding"/><link rel="next" href="software-rot.html" title="software rot"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">software laser</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="software-hoarding.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">S</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="software-rot.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="software-laser"/><dt xmlns="" id="software-laser"><b>software laser</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">n.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> An optical laser works by bouncing photons back and forth between
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two mirrors, one totally reflective and one partially reflective. If the
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lasing material (usually a crystal) has the right properties, photons
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scattering off the atoms in the crystal will excite cascades of more
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photons, all in lockstep. Eventually the beam will escape through the
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partially-reflective mirror. One kind of
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<a href="sorcerers-apprentice-mode.html"><i class="glossterm">sorcerer's apprentice mode</i></a> involving <a href="../B/bounce-message.html"><i class="glossterm">bounce message</i></a>s can
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produce closely analogous results, with a <a href="../C/cascade.html"><i class="glossterm">cascade</i></a> of
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messages escaping to flood nearby systems. By mid-1993 there had been at
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least two publicized incidents of this kind.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="software-hoarding.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../S.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="software-rot.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">software hoarding </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> software rot</td></tr></table></div></body></html>
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