Solid-State Diode Lasers Gain Ground

Diode and diode-pumped lasers are about to find significant commercial applications, several experts on commercial and research photonics told a standing-room-only audience during a session at the Optical Society of America Annual Meeting in Long Beach, Calif.
"The markets for these sources are real, and they are large, and they are going to push very hard on the next generation of laser technology," said Robert Byer, a professor at Stanford University.
Byer said that important applications will include paint removal devices, semiconductor production, industrial machining and color projection displays.