Laser diffraction limit. All such devices are classified as "lasers" based on their method of producing light, i.e., stimulated emission. Lasers are employed where light of the required spatial or temporal coherence can not be produced using simpler technologies. The word "laser" started as an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". In this usage, the term "light" includes electromagnetic radiation of any frequency, not only visible light, hence the terms "infrared laser", "ultraviolet laser", "X-ray laser" and "gamma-ray laser". Because the microwave predecessor of the laser, the maser, was developed first, devices of this sort operating at microwave
Sound amplification by stimulated emission of radiation of semiconductors that together form quantum wells. In these wells, electrons can be excited by parcels of ultrasound of millielectronvolts of energy. This amount of energy is equivalent to a frequency of 0.1 to 1 THz. Just as light is a wave motion that is considered as composed of particles called photons, we can think of the normal modes of vibration in a solid as being particle-like. The quantum of lattice vibration is called phonon. In lattice dynamics we want to find the normal modes of vibration of a crystal. In other words, we need to calculate the energies (or