How Does a Laser Diode Work?
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The Components of a Laser Diode
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A laser diode, similar to a light emitting diode (LED), is comprised of a junction between two semiconductors (one positive, one negative). This junction is known as a p-n junction. There is also a terminal to collect electricity and a lens to focus the laser beam. These semiconductors are incredibly small, made of very thin slices of semiconducting material, and are very carefully manufactured so as to create a perfect p-n junction.
Producing The Beam
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Lasers are monochromatic, meaning that they have only one frequency. In fact, laser itself is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation." For a laser to function, many photons of light of the same frequency must all travel in the same direction, causing them to constructively interfere with each other, which increases the amplitude of the light. In a laser diode, the light is emitted because there are both electrons, in the positive substance, and holes (the absence of electrons) in the negative substance. When the positive substance is charged, the electrons in the positive substance jump to fill the holes in the negative substance. when the electrons jump, they lose energy in the form of photons, which are light quanta. These photons are all produced simultaneously. Because all the electrons jumped down to fill holes in a certain semiconducting material, all of the photons are of the same frequency and direction. This causes a laser beam to form and come out through the lens of the laser diode.
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The Use of Laser Diodes
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Laser diodes are used in most laser pointers because of their small size. This also makes them great for DVD and CD players because both use small lasers to read their disks. However, laser diodes generally do not produce much power, making them far too weak to be used industrially.
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