Diode Lasers

Definition: semiconductor laser devices based on laser diodes

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. Rüdiger 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.

Questions and Comments from Users

Here you can submit questions and comments. As far as they get accepted by the author, they will appear above this paragraph together with the author’s answer. The author will decide on acceptance based on certain criteria. Essentially, the issue must be of sufficiently broad interest.

Please do not enter personal data here; we would otherwise delete it soon. (See also our privacy declaration.) If you wish to receive personal feedback or consultancy from the author, please contact him e.g. via e-mail.

By submitting the information, you give your consent to the potential publication of your inputs on our website according to our rules. (If you later retract your consent, we will delete those inputs.) As your inputs are first reviewed by the author, they may be published with some delay.

Suppliers

The RP Photonics Buyer's Guide contains 71 suppliers for diode lasers. Among them:

See also: laser diodes, laser diode modules, semiconductor lasers, laser diode collimators, laser diode drivers
and other articles in the categories optoelectronics, lasers

If you like this page, please share the link with your friends and colleagues, e.g. via social media:

These sharing buttons are implemented in a privacy-friendly way!

Code for Links on Other Websites

If you want to place a link to this article in some other resource (e.g. your website, social media, a discussion forum, Wikipedia), you can get the required code here.

HTML link on this article:

<a href="https://www.rp-photonics.com/diode_lasers.html">
Article on Diode Lasers</a>
in the <a href="https://www.rp-photonics.com/encyclopedia.html">
RP Photonics Encyclopedia</a>

With preview image (see the box just above):

<a href="https://www.rp-photonics.com/diode_lasers.html">
<img src="https://www.rp-photonics.com/previews/diode_lasers.png"
 alt="article" style="width:400px"></a>

For Wikipedia, e.g. in the section "==External links==":

* [https://www.rp-photonics.com/diode_lasers.html
article on 'Diode Lasers' in the RP Photonics Encyclopedia]