The quickest way to understand laser types and their differences

A laser is a device that emits laser light, and we can found it everywhere in our lives. Lasers are indispensable for applications in the industrial sector, automotive and home appliances, as well as in the medical and cosmetic industries. Lasers are versatile and have a variety of functions. Cutting, welding and laser engraving, tattoo removal, eye surgery, hair removal, etc., all of these can be done with the help of lasers. Of course, there are various types of lasers, and different types have unique characteristics and areas of application. There are five main types of lasers depending on the state of the working material: gas lasers, solid-state lasers, fiber lasers, dye lasers, and semiconductor lasers. These five lasers are different in working substance and working principle.

Gas lasers

The working substance they use is a gas, and they are further classified as atomic gas lasers, ion gas lasers, molecular gas lasers, excimer gas lasers, etc., depending on the nature of the working particles in the gas that are produced by the laser emission. Industrial CO2 lasers send an electric current through a gas, then produce light.

Gas lasers are typically represented by CO2 lasers, helium-neon lasers, carbon monoxide lasers, etc. CO2 lasers are probably the best-known gas lasers, which are mainly used for laser marking, laser cutting and laser welding. Minority laser engraving machines in Lunyee company also use CO2 lasers. Gas lasers are used in a wide range of applications, the barcode scanning we see in our life uses gas lasers. In addition, it is also used in material processing, laser surgery, etc.

solid-state lasers

Solid-state lasers use ion-doped crystals or glass. Its medium is a solid laser, and the working substance used in these lasers is made by adding metal ions capable of being subjected to laser radiation to a crystal or glass matrix to form a light-emitting center. Because of the use of crystals, the thermal lens effect is a drawback of most solid-state lasers.

fiber lasers

Fiber lasers are lasers that use rare earth element-doped glass fibers as gain media, and fiber lasers can be developed based on fiber amplifiers. The photoconductive properties of fiber lasers make the type of laser significantly different from other lasers. The laser beam of a fiber laser is smaller than other laser types, ensuring its accuracy. Fiber lasers are also known for their small size, electrical efficiency, low maintenance costs, and low operating costs. Most of the laser engraving machines in Lunyee company use fiber lasers, which have a small laser radius and are fully capable of high-precision engraving. In addition to material processing such as laser engraving and cutting, fiber lasers are also widely used in medical devices, telecommunication, industrial manufacturing, etc.

dye lasers

The gain medium for dye lasers is a liquid, which consists of two main types of liquids: organic fluorescent dye solutions and solutions of inorganic compounds containing rare earth metal ions. These lasers, also known as liquid lasers. They are used in laser medicine, spectroscopy, removal of birthmarks, and separation of isotopes. The advantage of liquid lasers is that they can produce a wider range of wavelengths.

semiconductor lasers

This type of laser is made of certain semiconductor material as the working substance. Semiconductor lasers, also known as semiconductor laser diodes, or simply Laser diodes (LD). Due to the specificity of the material structure of the semiconductor material itself and the specificity of the electron movement law in the semiconductor material, the operating characteristics of the semiconductor laser have their special characteristics. Some laser engraving machines use laser diode modules for their laser modules. In addition, laser diodes are also very common in our life, optical disc reading and recording, laser microscope, smoke sensor, laser mice and other sensing functions use laser diodes.

Conclusion

There are five main types of lasers. These five types of lasers differ in terms of their working substances, operating principles and even application areas.