Diode Lasers
Definition: semiconductor laser devices based on laser diodes
More general term: semiconductor lasers
More specific terms: high brightness laser diodes, diode bars, diode stacks, vertical cavity surface-emitting lasers, external-cavity diode lasers, fiber-coupled diode lasers, mode-locked diode lasers, direct diode lasers
German: Diodenlaser
Categories: optoelectronics, lasers
How to cite the article; suggest additional literature
Author: Dr. RĂ¼diger Paschotta
Diode lasers are semiconductor laser devices based on laser diodes. Although the terms diode laser and laser diode are often used with the same meaning, it is appropriate to distinguish the terms: the diode laser is a laser device, which may sometimes consist only of a single laser diode, but may also contain additional items:
- The laser diode may be combined with an external optical resonator, so that the device is an external-cavity diode laser.
- A diode laser device may contain multiple laser diodes with some optics for beam combining (for example spectral beam combining).
- A diode laser may also include additional optics outside the laser resonator, such as a beam collimator or a beam shaper, means for coupling the light to an optical fiber (→ fiber-coupled diode lasers or pigtailed diode lasers), or means to provide optical feedback, e.g. in order to reduce the emission linewidth.
- In some cases, a device for nonlinear frequency conversion is also included.
- A diode laser may be provided with a housing, which may also contain means for temperature stabilization of the laser diode and a laser diode driver. See also the article on laser diode modules.
Applications of diode lasers are mentioned in the article on laser diodes.
Suppliers
The RP Photonics Buyer's Guide contains 82 suppliers for diode lasers. Among them:


NKT Photonics
Our PILAS range of gain-switched pulsed diode lasers offers triggable pulses down to 20 ps in a small footprint for both scientific and OEM applications. Available with output wavelengths from 375 nm to 1.6 μm, the PILAS lasers are very versatile and comes with low timing jitter.


Alpes Lasers
Alpes Lasers manufactures laser diodes emitting at wavelengths from 1.45 to 2.15 μm with powers up to 50 mW. They are offered either as chip-on-carrier or encapsulated in a low power TO-66 package with collimated or divergent free-space beam output.


Edmund Optics
Edmund Optics offers a wide range of diode laser sources, including machine vision lasers, life science lasers, metrology lasers, industrial and point lasers, and material processing lasers.


Lumibird
Lumibird manufactures a wide range of laser diodes and laser diode modules. Our offering includes QCW diode stacks, CW laser diode modules, fiber coupled QCW diode stacks, short pulse laser diode illuminators, as well as high brightness diode source, IALDA, and pulsed power supply drivers for QCW diodes.


RPMC Lasers
RPMC Lasers offers one of the broadest wavelength selections of semiconductor laser diodes available. Our diode laser products include multimode laser diodes, single-mode laser diodes, laser diode bars and stacks, quantum cascade laser diodes, superluminescent laser diodes and VCSELS. We also offer narrow linewidth laser diodes utilizing DFB and VBG. We offer fiber-coupled options on most devices and complete systems if preferred.


TOPTICA Photonics
Diode lasers combine plug-and-play operation, compact form factor and maximum performance. TOPTICA offers single-mode diode lasers, multi-color lasers, single-frequency lasers, and tunable diode lasers for demanding applications in biophotonics, industrial metrology and quantum technology. TOPTICA provides the widest wavelength coverage of diode lasers on the market (190 – 3500 nm).


Sheaumann Laser
Sheaumann Laser offers a wide range of laser diodes, ranging from low-power single-mode emitters to multimode high-power lasers. Many different packaging options (with free-space output or fiber-coupled) are available. Emission wavelengths range from 785 nm to 1064 nm.
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See also: laser diodes, laser diode modules, semiconductor lasers, laser diode collimators, laser diode drivers
and other articles in the categories optoelectronics, lasers
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