Industry, Science
May 1, 1997 — The ultimate light source is a flexible device that OEMs could plug into machines that cut steel and aluminum, assay chemical or biological samples, produce printing plates, communicate from satellite to submarines, or investigate the atmosphere. Customers want small, versatile, rugged lasers that are as inexpensive as their older gas or dye lasers.Diode-pumped solid-state lasers and semiconductor diode lasers are as close as photonics has come to a “light-bulb” laser; thus, they are creeping...