Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 23, 2026

08:39
Shaping the Amplitude and Phase of Laser Beams by Using a Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator
Published on: January 28, 2019
Effect of absorption on the spreading of a laser beam
1s.r.seshadri@worldnet.att.net
Optics Letters
|June 24, 2004
Abstract:
The propagation characteristics of the fundamental Gaussian laser beam in absorptive and active media are investigated. There is a general reduction in the spreading of the beam on propagation in both absorptive and active media. In addition, in an active medium there is a shift of the focal plane and a reduction in the waist size of the beam.
Related Concept Videos
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Beer–Lambert Law
The Beer-Lambert law describes the relationship between absorbance and concentration, which combines the principles established by scientists Johann Heinrich Lambert and August Beer. Lambert's law states that when light passes through a medium, the loss in intensity is directly proportional to the original intensity and the path length of the light. Beer's law proposed that the transmittance of a solution remains constant if the product of concentration and path length is constant. The modern...
Absorption of Radiation
The rate of heat transfer by emitted radiation is described by the Stefan-Boltzmann law of radiation:
Interaction of EM Radiation with Matter: Spectroscopy
Electromagnetic (EM) radiation can be considered an oscillating electric and magnetic field propagating through a medium that can interact with matter in its path. The electric field in the radiation can interact with electrical charges in the atoms or molecules in the matter. On the other hand, the magnetic field can interact with the magnetic field in the atomic nucleus. The study of the interaction between electromagnetic radiation and matter is termed spectroscopy. Spectroscopy is the study...

