What are Diode Pumped Solid State (DPSS) Lasers?

Diode Pumped Solid State (DPSS) Lasers are solid-state lasers pumped with laser diodes. They deliver very short nanosecond pulses with high peak power and repetition rate with little thermal input. These lasers deliver a wide variety of different wavelengths with very good beam quality. The gain medium of these lasers is glasses or crystals which are doped with impurities such as neodymium, chromium, erbium, or other ions. This gain medium is placed between two mirrored surfaces. The mainly used laser crystals in this laser are Neodymium-doped Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Nd:YAG), Neodymium-doped yttrium orthovanadate (Nd:YVO4,) and Potassium Titanyl Phosphate (KTP). The KTP crystal is sensitive to optical damage at extremely high output levels. DPSS lasers are optically pumped with diode modules having a longer lifetime. Since the laser diodes have low noise intensity, the diode-pumped lasers also have very low noise. Figure 1 represents the internal diagram of a DPSS laser.

DPSS lasers are continuous wave lasers that can also work in pulsed mode by Q-switching. These lasers are sensitive to temperatures. They have a more compact design with small laser heads than flashlamp-pumped lasers and they are very efficient, reliable, and flexible. They also require very less maintenance. The possibility of harmonic generations in this laser allows the wavelength emission from ultraviolet to infrared. The commonly used DPSS laser is 532 nm green laser. DPSS lasers utilize the narrow linewidth property of diode lasers together with their high brightness. This leads to maximum absorption causing increased efficiency.