Laser Diodes:
Many laser diodes of today’s technology are considered semiconductor p-n junction diodes. A crystal wafer is doped with a very thin layer of doping elements, such as phosphorus, boron and arsenic, depending of the type of diffusion is needed and number of donor and acceptor ions to create compensation that pushes electrons through the conducting system at the p-n junction. This creates impurities in the crystal and arranges the electrons to emit in a cohesive stream of photons producing photon emissions by injecting electrical current between the two regions (p-n junction) of the diode.
There are many different types of laser diodes, the most common found in commercial portable laser systems are the typical p-n junction diodes as described above. These laser diodes are used in a variety of commercial applications from telecommunications to the common laser pointer. The ability to mass produce these laser diodes at low costs makes them highly portable to many industries and markets.
The advancement in technology allows manufacturers to produce extremely proficient laser diodes allowing an abundance of power in a relative small package. The typical laser diodes of today are capable of producing many Watts of output in a very small self contained canister, allowing a variety of powerful portable hand held lasers to be realized. There are literally thousands of markets that utilize laser diodes and they can be found in many household and commercial consumer products all over the world.
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