List of laser types

This is a list of laser types, their operational wavelengths, and their applications. Thousands of kinds of laser are known, but most of them are used only for specialized research.

Overview

Gas lasers

Laser gain medium and type	Operation wavelength	Pump source	Applications and notes
Helium–neon laser	632.8 nm	Electrical discharge	Interferometry, holography, spectroscopy, barcode scanning, alignment, optical demonstrations.
Argon laser	454.6 nm, 488.0 nm, 514.5 nm	Electrical discharge	Retinal phototherapy, lithography, confocal microscopy, spectroscopy pumping other lasers.
Krypton laser	416 nm, 530.9 nm, 568.2 nm, 647.1 nm, 676.4 nm, 752.5 nm, 799.3 nm	Electrical discharge	Scientific research, mixed with argon to create "white-light" lasers, light shows.
Xenon ion laser	Many lines throughout visible spectrum extending into the UV and IR	Electrical discharge	Scientific research.
Nitrogen laser	337.1 nm	Electrical discharge	Pumping of dye lasers, measuring air pollution, scientific research. Nitrogen lasers can operate superradiantly. Amateur laser construction. See TEA laser.
Carbon dioxide laser	10.6 μm,	Transverse or longitudinal electrical discharge	Material processing, surgery, dental laser, military lasers.
Carbon monoxide laser	2.6 to 4 μm, 4.8 to 8.3 μm	Electrical discharge	Material processing, photoacoustic spectroscopy.
Excimer laser	157 nm, 193.3 nm, 248 nm, 308 nm, 351 nm	Excimer recombination via electrical discharge	Ultraviolet lithography for semiconductor manufacturing, laser surgery, LASIK, scientific research.

Chemical lasers

Used as directed-energy weapons.

Laser gain medium and type	Operation wavelength	Pump source	Applications and notes
Hydrogen fluoride laser	2.7 to 2.9 μm for hydrogen fluoride	Chemical reaction in a burning jet of ethylene and nitrogen trifluoride	Used in research for laser weaponry, operated in continuous-wave mode, can have power in the megawatt range.
Deuterium fluoride laser	~3800 nm	chemical reaction	US military laser prototypes.
COIL	1.315 μm	Chemical reaction in a jet of singlet delta oxygen and iodine	Military lasers, scientific and materials research. Can operate in continuous wave mode, with power in the megawatt range.
Agil	1.315 μm	Chemical reaction of chlorine atoms with gaseous hydrazoic acid, resulting in excited molecules of nitrogen chloride, which then pass their energy to the iodine atoms.	Scientific, weaponry, aerospace.

Dye lasers

Laser gain medium and type	Operation wavelength	Pump source	Applications and notes
Dye lasers	390-435 nm, 460-515 nm, 570-640 nm, many others	Other laser, flashlamp	Research, laser medicine, spectroscopy, birthmark removal, isotope separation. The tuning range of the laser depends on which dye is used.

Metal-vapor lasers

Solid-state lasers

Laser gain medium and type	Operation wavelength	Pump source	Applications and notes
Ruby laser	694.3 nm	Flashlamp	Holography, tattoo removal. The first laser, invented by Theodore Maiman in May 1960.
Nd:YAG laser	1.064 μm,	Flashlamp, laser diode	Material processing, rangefinding, laser target designation, surgery, tattoo removal, hair removal, research, pumping other lasers. One of the most common high-power lasers. Usually pulsed, dental laser
Nd:YAP laser	1.0646 μm	Flashlamp, laser diode	Surgery, tattoo removal, hair removal, research, pumping other lasers
Nd:Cr:YAG laser	1.064 μm,	solar radiation	Experimental production of nanopowders.
Er:YAG laser	2.94 μm	Flashlamp, laser diode	Periodontal scaling, dental laser, skin resurfacing
Neodymium YLF solid-state laser	1.047 and 1.053 μm	Flashlamp, laser diode	Mostly used for pulsed pumping of certain types of pulsed Ti:sapphire lasers, combined with frequency doubling.
Neodymium-doped yttrium orthovanadate laser	1.064 μm	laser diode	Mostly used for continuous pumping of mode-locked Ti:sapphire or dye lasers, in combination with frequency doubling. Also used pulsed for marking and micromachining. A frequency doubled nd:YVO₄ laser is also the normal way of making a green laser pointer.
Neodymium-doped yttrium calcium oxoborate Nd:YCa₄O₃ or simply Nd:YCOB	~1.060 μm	laser diode	Nd:YCOB is a so-called "self-frequency doubling" or SFD laser material which is both capable of lasing and which has nonlinear characteristics suitable for second harmonic generation. Such materials have the potential to simplify the design of high brightness green lasers.
Neodymium glass laser	~1.062 μm, ~1.054 μm	Flashlamp, laser diode	Used in extremely high-power, high-energy multiple beam systems for inertial confinement fusion. Nd:Glass lasers are usually frequency tripled to the third harmonic at 351 nm in laser fusion devices.
Titanium sapphire laser	650-1100 nm	Other laser	Spectroscopy, LIDAR, research. This material is often used in highly-tunable mode-locked infrared lasers to produce ultrashort pulses and in amplifier lasers to produce ultrashort and ultra-intense pulses.
Thulium YAG laser	2.0 μm	Laser diode	LIDAR.
Ytterbium YAG laser	1.03 μm	Laser diode, flashlamp	Laser cooling, materials processing, ultrashort pulse research, multiphoton microscopy, LIDAR.
Ytterbium:₂O₃ laser	1.03 μm	Laser diode	Ultrashort pulse research,
Ytterbium-doped glass laser	1. μm	Laser diode	Fiber version is capable of producing several-kilowatt continuous power, having ~70-80% optical-to-optical and ~25% electrical-to-optical efficiency. Material processing: cutting, welding, marking; nonlinear fiber optics: broadband fiber-nonlinearity based sources, pump for fiber Raman lasers; distributed Raman amplification pump for telecommunications.
Holmium YAG laser	2.1 μm	Flashlamp, laser diode	Tissue ablation, kidney stone removal, dentistry.
Chromium ZnSe laser	2.2 - 2.8 μm	Other laser	MWIR laser radar, countermeasure against heat-seeking missiles etc.
Cerium-doped lithium strontium aluminum fluoride	~280 to 316 nm	Frequency quadrupled Nd:YAG laser pumped, excimer laser pumped, copper vapor laser pumped.	Remote atmospheric sensing, LIDAR, optics research.
Promethium-147-doped phosphate glass solid-state laser	933 nm, 1098 nm	??	Laser material is radioactive. Once demonstrated in use at LLNL in 1987, room temperature 4 level lasing in ¹⁴⁷Pm doped into a lead-indium-phosphate glass étalon.
Chromium-doped chrysoberyl laser	Typically tuned in the range of 700 to 820 nm	Flashlamp, laser diode, mercury arc	Dermatological uses, LIDAR, laser machining.
Erbium-ytterbium and Erbium-doped glass lasers	1.53–1.56 μm	Flashlamp, laser diode	Erbium-ytterbium and erbium-doped glass lasers are made in rod, plate/chip, and optical fiber form. Common uses for Er:glass lasers include rangefinding and skin resurfacing. Erbium doped fibers are commonly used as optical amplifiers for telecommunications.
Trivalent uranium-doped calcium fluoride solid-state laser	2.5 μm	Flashlamp	First 4-level solid state laser developed by Peter Sorokin and Mirek Stevenson at IBM research labs, second laser invented overall, liquid helium cooled, unused today.
Divalent samarium-doped calcium fluoride laser	708.5 nm	Flashlamp	Also invented by Peter Sorokin and Mirek Stevenson at IBM research labs, early 1961. Liquid helium-cooled, unused today.
F-center laser	2.3-3.3 μm	Ion laser	Spectroscopy
Optically pumped semiconductor laser	920 nm-1.35 μm	Laser diode	Projection, life sciences, forensic analysis, spectroscopy, eye surgery, laser light shows. The lasing medium is a semiconductor chip. Frequency doubling or tripling is typically done to produce visible or ultraviolet radiation. Power levels of several watts are possible. Beam quality can be extremely high- often rivaling that of an ion laser.

Semiconductor lasers

Laser gain medium and type	Operation wavelength	Pump source	Applications and notes
Semiconductor laser diode	0.4-20 μm, depending on active region material.	Electrical current	Telecommunications, holography, printing, weapons, machining, welding, pump sources for other lasers, high-beam headlights for automobiles.
GaN	0.4 μm	Electrical current	Optical discs. 405 nm is used in Blu-ray Discs reading/recording.
InGaN	0.4 - 0.5 μm	Electrical current	Home projector, primary light source for some recent small projectors
AlGaInP, AlGaAs	0.63-0.9 μm	Electrical current	Optical discs, laser pointers, data communications. 780 nm compact disc, 650 nm general DVD player and 635 nm DVD for Authoring recorder laser are the most common lasers type in the world. Solid-state laser pumping, machining, medical.
InGaAsP	1.0-2.1 μm	Electrical current	Telecommunications, solid-state laser pumping, machining, medical..
lead salt	3-20 μm	Electrical current
Vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser	850–1500 nm, depending on material	Electrical current	Telecommunications
Quantum cascade laser	Mid-infrared to far-infrared.	Electrical current	Research, Future applications may include collision-avoidance radar, industrial-process control and medical diagnostics such as breath analyzers.
Quantum dot laser	wide range.	Electrical current	Medicine, display technologies, spectroscopy and telecommunications.
Quantum well laser	0.4-20 μm, depending on active region material.	Electrical current	Telecommunications
Hybrid silicon laser	Mid-infrared	Electrical current	Low cost silicon integrated optical communications