mode hopping?

[paperboy421]

this is kind of a dumb question....but what is mode hopping exactly? i hear this word used here all the time. :-X

 

[Things]

mode hopping is basically the laser is hopping between "modes", and you can tell if your laser is doing it by shining your laser through a magnifying glass, and if there is more than 1 dot, it is mode hopping.
hope this helps

 

[Things]

here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transverse_mode