We all know that semiconductor laser equipment is widely used in daily life. Many people are asking whether solid-state lasers are semiconductor laser equipment. Let's take a look at it together.

Semiconductor laser, also known as "LD laser", is actually a bit like our common LED, which emits light by semiconductor chips. However, LED is self-luminous, while LD is excited by current, which recombines electrons and holes in PN junction to produce stimulated radiation, thus forming laser. It is small in size, high in efficiency, fast in response, and can work with only one electricity, so now many laser processing equipment, medical instruments and communication systems love to use it.

As for the solid-state laser, its structure is much more complicated. It uses solid gain medium, such as common Nd:YAG crystal (Nd-doped yttrium aluminum garnet), and then it is excited by pump light. In the early days, flash lamps were used, and now many of them also use semiconductor lasers as pumping sources. Solid-state lasers emit light with high power, high energy density and better beam quality, which is suitable for high-power processing such as cutting, welding and marking.

In terms of working life, the service life of semiconductor lasers is generally more than 10,000 hours, and some can even achieve more than 20,000 hours; There are many vulnerable parts of solid-state lasers, such as bulbs, crystals and optical components, and the maintenance frequency will be higher.

Nowadays, many solid-state lasers are actually pumped by "semiconductor lasers", that is to say, they are not completely opposite, but interdependent. Semiconductors are responsible for providing energy, and solids are responsible for amplification and output. Just like the engine and the transmission system, each has its own duties, and together they can output strong "optical power".

To sum up, if you want a small, efficient and fast-responding laser source, such as medical irradiation, laser printing and optical communication, then semiconductor lasers are definitely the first choice; But if you want to do high-power cutting, welding and drilling, the energy density and stability of solid-state laser are more suitable.