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Definition: operation mode of a laser with continuous light emission
Continuous-wave (cw) operation of a laser means that the laser is continuously pumped and continuously emits light. The emission can occur in a single resonator mode (→ single-frequency operation) or on multiple modes.
In continuous-wave operation, some lasers exhibit too strong heating of the gain medium. The heating can then be reduced by quasi-continuous-wave operation, where the pump power is only switched on for limited time intervals.
Some lasers are called continuous-wave mode-locked. This means that the laser is mode-locked, and the pulse energy (or average power) is constant, i.e. there is no Q-switched mode locking. Despite the emission of pulses, mode locking can be considered as a kind of continuous-wave operation in the sense that the resonator modes are excited with constant powers.
See also: modes of laser operation, quasi-continuous-wave operation, resonator modes
