Editing Laser diode (section)

=== Medical uses ===
[[Laser medicine]]: medicine and especially dentistry have found many new uses for diode lasers.<ref>{{cite journal|pmid=16366049|year=2005|title=Using a diode laser to uncover dental implants in second-stage surgery|volume=53|issue=6|pages=414–7|journal=General Dentistry|last1=Yeh|first1=S|last2=Jain|first2=K|last3=Andreana|first3=S}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|pmid=16358809|year=2005|title=The use of diode lasers in periodontal therapy: literature review and suggested technique|volume=24|issue=11|pages=130, 132–5|journal=Dentistry Today|last1=Andreana|first1=S}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Borzabadi-Farahani A|title=The Adjunctive Soft-Tissue Diode Laser in Orthodontics|journal=Compend Contin Educ Dent.|volume=37|pages=e18–e31 |issue=eBook 5 |date= 2017 | pmid=28509563}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Borzabadi-Farahani, A. |title=A Scoping Review of the Efficacy of Diode Lasers Used for Minimally Invasive Exposure of Impacted Teeth or Teeth with Delayed Eruption |journal=Photonics |date=2022 |doi=10.3390/photonics9040265 |volume=9 |issue=4|page=265 |bibcode=2022Photo...9..265B |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1007/s10103-007-0440-3|title=Laser applications in oral surgery and implant dentistry|year=2007|last1=Deppe|first1=Herbert|first2=Hans-Henning|journal=Lasers in Medical Science|volume=22|pages=217–221|pmid=17268764|last2=Horch|issue=4|s2cid=23606690 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Borzabadi-Farahani |first=A| editor-last1=Coluzzi |editor-first1=D.J. |editor-last2=Parker |editor-first2=S.P.A.| title=Lasers in Dentistry—Current Concepts. Textbooks in Contemporary Dentistry |publisher=Springer, Cham |date=2024 |edition=2nd |pages=379–398 |chapter=Laser Use in Muco-Gingival Surgical Orthodontics |isbn=978-3-031-43338-2 | doi=10.1007/978-3-031-43338-2}}</ref> The shrinking size and cost<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dentaleconomics.com/articles/print/volume-101/issue-5/technology-needs/cuts-like-a-knife.html|title=Cuts Like A Knife|last=Feuerstein|first=Paul|website=Dental Economics|date=May 2011 |access-date=2016-04-12}}</ref> of the units and their increasing user-friendliness makes them very attractive to clinicians for minor soft-tissue procedures. 

Diode wavelengths range from 810 to 1,100 [[Nanometre|nm]], are poorly absorbed by soft tissue, and are not used for cutting or [[ablation]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/lasersurgeryingy0000wrig|url-access=registration|title=Laser Surgery in Gynecology: A Clinical Guide|last1=Wright|first1=V. Cecil|last2=Fisher|first2=John C.|date=1993-01-01|publisher=Saunders|isbn=9780721640075|pages=[https://archive.org/details/lasersurgeryingy0000wrig/page/58 58]–81|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ySwYpTFZshgC|title=Endoscopic Laser Surgery Handbook|last=Shapshay|first=S. M.|date=1987-06-16|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=9780824777111|pages=1–130|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Romanos|first=Georgios E.|date=2013-12-01|title=Diode laser soft-tissue surgery: advancements aimed at consistent cutting, improved clinical outcomes|journal=Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry|volume=34|issue=10|pages=752–7; quiz 758|pmid=24571504}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Vitruk|first=PP|date=2015|title=Oral Soft Tissue Laser Ablative and Coagulative Efficiencies Spectra|url=https://lightscalpel.com/publications/oral-soft-tissue-laser-ablative-and-coagulative-efficiencies-spectra/|journal=Implant Practice US|volume=7|issue=6|pages=19–27}}</ref> Soft tissue is not cut by the laser's beam, but is instead cut by contact with a hot charred glass tip.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> The laser's irradiation is highly absorbed at the distal end of the tip and heats it up to 500–900°C.<ref name=":0" /> Because the tip is so hot, it can be used to cut soft tissue and can cause [[hemostasis]] through [[cauterization]] and [[carbonization]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Diode lasers when used on soft tissue can cause extensive collateral thermal damage to surrounding tissue.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

As laser beam light is inherently [[coherence (physics)|coherent]], certain applications use the coherence of laser diodes. These include interferometric distance measurement, [[holography]], coherent communications, and coherent control of chemical reactions.

Laser diodes are used for their narrow spectral properties in the areas of range-finding, telecommunications, infra-red countermeasures, [[Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectrometry|spectroscopic sensing]], generation of radio-frequency or terahertz waves, atomic clock state preparation, quantum key cryptography, frequency doubling and conversion, water purification (in the UV), and photodynamic therapy (where a particular wavelength of light would cause a substance such as [[porphyrin]] to become chemically active as an anti-cancer agent only where the tissue is illuminated by light).

Laser diodes are used for their ability to generate ultra-short pulses of light by the technique known as ''mode-locking''. Areas of use include clock distribution for high-performance integrated circuits, high-peak-power sources for laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy sensing, arbitrary waveform generation for radio-frequency waves, photonic sampling for analog-to-digital conversion, and optical [[Code-division multiple access|code-division-multiple-access]] systems for secure communication.