A p-n junction in which injected current creates gain, with cleaved or coated facets forming the cavity. Edge emitters produce an elliptical, fast-diverging beam with a fast axis and a slow axis that need separate collimation. Diodes convert electricity to light at 50 to 70 percent efficiency, which makes them the standard pump for fiber lasers and most solid-state lasers, but they die from electrostatic discharge, overcurrent and back reflections.
Ground strap on before you touch that laser diode, we lost two last quarter to ESD on the bench.
Also heard as
- diode laser
- LD
- diode
- semiconductor laser
Do not mix it up with
- Pump: A laser diode is one kind of pump source; the pump is whatever supplies energy to a gain medium.
Related terms
Pump
The energy source that excites a gain medium, or the act of supplying it, usually with diodes, flashlamps or current.
Smile
The slight bowing of the emitter line on a laser diode bar, which spoils fast-axis collimation.
Kink
A sudden bend or step in a laser diode's power-versus-current curve, usually a sign of mode switching.
Lasing threshold
The pump level at which gain exactly balances resonator losses and laser output begins.
Fried
Lab slang for a laser diode, optic, coating or detector that has been destroyed by too much light or current.