What are the advantages and disadvantages of semiconductor laser?

A semiconductor laser, also known as a laser diode (LD), uses electricity as the pump source to emit a monochromatic and coherent laser beam. Laser diodes are usually small in size and weight, making them easy to handle. Powered by a constant current at low voltage, laser diodes are safe to operate and have a low failure rate and energy consumption. Because of these advantages, the laser diode is known as a reliable laser source that is widely applied in various industries. To expand the measurement range of the particle size analyzer and optimize measurement accuracy, different types of laser diodes are available: infrared or red light with a longer wavelength and green or blue light with a shorter wavelength. 

In the early days, the performances of laser diodes were limited and impacted by operating temperatures, and the beam divergence was larger. Therefore, the properties of the laser beam emitted, such as directionality, coherence, and monochromaticity, were limited. Laser diode performance significantly improved as the semiconductor industry rapidly developed over the years. Nowadays, the laser diode is widely applied as a laser source in analyzer manufacturing. When using a laser diode as the laser source, a constant current should be provided, and a constant working temperature should be guaranteed, which ensures a stable output power.

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