Sources gain industrial acceptance
Bruce B. Craig and Curt Frederickson, Spectra-Physics Lasers Inc.
All-solid-state sources are comparable to high-power diode lasers with a few notable exceptions: they provide improved mode quality, energy storage for Q-switched applications, mode-locking for ultrashort pulses and alternative wavelengths. Going forward one can anticipate sources that employ different gain media with an increased diversity of architecture such as fiber, waveguide or microchip devices.