A laser design which generates very high beam power within a fairly small resonator structure. Long electrodes parallel the axis and gas is circulated across the resonator cavity.

The “normal curve,” or normal distribution, an example of which is the symmetrical bell shape of the holes created by the uncorrected, unfocused laser beam in its optimum mode. A Gaussian laser beam has most of its energy in the center.

A substance or device used to dissipate or absorb unwanted heat, as from a manufacturing process (or, with lasers, from reflected rays).

Abbreviated HeNe. Laser in which the active medium is a mixture of helium and neon, which is in the visible range. Used widely in industry for alignment, recording, printing, and measuring, it is also valuable as a pointer or aligner of invisible CO₂ laser light.