How to Select a Laser

We have carefully selected the lasers found to be most

popular and useful over the decades for our catalog line.
We have included HeNe and semiconductor diode lasers,
both of which have traditionally found broad OEM use, as
well as diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers, a rapidly
growing tool in OEM applications. Our long history in the
manufacture of lasers results in consistent and dependable
operation, as well as smooth transitions for custom
products into manufacturing.
By way of example, the optical resonator mirror quality
is critical to the performance of a laser. We manufacture
these in-house to high standards, and use only the most
durable optical coatings. The high laser damage threshold
of our cavity mirrors helps to maintain consistent power
output over time. Additionally, all of our systems comply
with the applicable CDRH standards and IEC directives for
stand-alone laser equipment.
This selection guide is intended to serve as an introduction
to some of the considerations when selecting a laser, with
specific comments on our off-the-shelf products. OEM
versions of these lasers, designed specifically for inclusion
in other systems, are available upon request. Please call a
Melles Griot applications engineer to discuss.
Selecting a laser is a balance between finding the right
wavelength, optical, and operational parameters, including
power, mode purity, divergence, stability, and lifetime. A
requirement for a particular wavelength may drive the
choice to a particular type of laser, but the reverse can be
equally true.

Types of lasers offered

The HeNe laser is perhaps the most ubiquitous laser, due
to a combination of performance and practical factors.
Small and compact compared to other gas lasers and
traditional solid state lasers, they also have the best
inherent beam quality, producing a virtually pure single
transverse mode beam. They are attractive to OEMs
because they are extremely reliable, easily convection
cooled, and are relatively low cost and efficient. Melles
Griot is the worldwide leader in HeNe laser manufacturing,

delivering over two million units to date with a high degree

of unit-to-unit repeatability, excellent pointing stability,
long coherence length, and low output noise.
HeNe lasers work by using a low current dc discharge
to excite a mixture of helium and neon gas. Neon is the
active lasing medium, while helium acts as a buffer gas
to populate the upper neon levels for lasing through
collisions. The laser cavity is created by end mirrors
mounted directly to a plasma tube containing the gases,
mounted within a metal sleeve for protection and heat
dissipation. This design is very reliable, and it is not
unusual for some HeNe lasers to operate for 50,000 hours
or more.
The most popular HeNe laser wavelength is 632.8 nm.
Low power HeNe lasers (<0.95 mW, or IEC Class II) find
use in FTIR spectroscopy, alignment, pointing, bar code
scanning, and teaching applications. Moderate power
lasers (up to 35 mW) are used in Raman spectroscopy,
holography, and test and measurement. Stabilized singlefrequency lasers, with coherence lengths measured in
kilometers, are ideal for wavelength calibration, precision
measurements, interferometry, and ranging applications.
Though much less common and lower in optical gain, the
543.5 nm green line and 594.1 nm yellow line in the neon
spectrum have their own unique uses. Green HeNe lasers

exploit the sensitivity of the human eye to green light, and

can be used effectively at a fraction of the output power of
a red laser for visual applications like aiming and pointing.
Many fluorescent dyes, reagents, and films absorb strongly
at 543 nm, making these lasers ideal for biotechnology,
cytometry, microscopy, and laser printing. Yellow HeNe
lasers are close enough in wavelength to the sodium D
lines to act as a spectral reference in the optical industry.
They are also used to excite several popular fluorescent
dyes.

enhanced reflectivity or power handling). This unique

geometry typically results in TEM00 (Gaussian) emission,
with a 10 emission angle parallel to, and a 30 emission
angle perpendicular to, the laser junction. Variability from
component to component can be as high as 25%, so it is
extremely important to match collimating optics to each
individual diode to ensure a circular beam in far field
operation. The stripe structure of a diode laser also results
in linearly polarized output; ours have a nominal 100:1
extinction ratio.

Diode lasers convert electricity directly to light. They

consist of a p-n diode junction with an active region where
electrons and holes recombine to emit light (photons),
together with an optical cavity where stimulated emission
and light amplification take place. The high efficiency
of this process (nearly 50%), low power consumption,
compact size, and the variety of emission wavelengths
available makes them a very attractive light source.
Available in UV through NIR wavelengths, they have
increasingly replaced other laser types in many research
and industrial applications.

Diode lasers with free-space collimating optics benefit

from high optical efficiency and output power, as well as
good beam quality, compact size, and low cost. Fiber
coupling, however, generates optical beam quality that
is far superior to free-space coupling, albeit at the cost
of output power. Output coupling via single-mode fiber
eliminates many of the high-order spatial modes and
creates a diffraction-limited, astigmatism-free Gaussian
(circular) output. This enables focusing to the theoretically
smallest spot size and/or propagation over hundreds
of meters. Efficiency for infrared wavelengths is up to
75%, but drops to less than 50% for visible wavelengths.
Multimode fiber bundles achieve more than 70% efficiency,
but with a reduction in mode quality.

The output power of a diode laser is heavily dependent

on the current supplied to the diode junction and its
temperature. Single mode operation occurs only above
a threshold current, but output power is then directly
proportional to that current. This allows a diode lasers
output to be quickly and easily controlled by an analog or
digital signal. It also enables modulation of the output,
reducing system cost by eliminating acousto-optic
modulators, and allows synchronous detection schemes.
Temperature variations, however, affect both output
power and wavelength stability. Both effects underscore
the importance of either maintaining a constant
junction temperature through thermoelectric cooling or
maintaining output power using automatic power control
(APC). Cooling can also extend a diode lasers lifetime,
as operating life doubles for every 10C reduction in
operating temperature. At room temperature, some
diode lasers can be expected to have a lifetime of 50,000
hours or more.
Diode lasers are fabricated using photolithographic
patterning in a stripe format on a single crystal wafer,
which is then cleaved normal to the stripe direction
to create a pair of planar, aligned crystal surfaces that
act as end mirrors (sometimes dielectrically coated for

GaN diode lasers emit at blue and near-UV wavelengths,

and are often used as excitation sources for biomedical
fluorescence studies, DNA sequencing, and confocal
microscopy, as well as DVD mastering and HeCd laser
replacement. GaAs diode lasers emit at red and nearinfrared wavelengths, and are used extensively for HeNe
laser replacement in applications like pointers, alignment,
biomedical fluorescence, barcode scanners, and surgical
applications. Near-infrared GaAs diode lasers find use in
audio CD readouts, Raman spectroscopy, thermal printing,
and as optical pumps for Nd:YAG lasers. InP diode
lasers emit at infrared wavelengths, useful for pumping
of Yb:YAG and erbium fiber lasers, as well as OCT. They
are used widely in telecom applications to pump erbium
fiber amplifiers and generate Raman gain, and are an input
source for short- and long-wavelength channels.
Diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers use diode lasers
in place of discharge lamps to pump solid-state laser
crystals, resulting in a compact and efficient alternative
to air-cooled ion lasers and green HeNe lasers. Many
proprietary designs exist for DPSS lasers, but Melles

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Griot uses an infrared laser crystal pumped by nearinfrared diode lasers followed by intracavity doubling to
generate visible light. Coatings on the extreme sides of
the two crystals form the laser cavity and keep the design
compact, while thermoelectric coolers tightly control
the temperature of the laser cavity and diode pumps.
Output optics collimate the beam and filter any remaining
pump laser or infrared light. The resulting beam quality
is comparable to that of a gas laser, but with efficiency
on the order of a few percent (as compared to 0.1% for
gas lasers). DPSS lasers also offer excellent stability
and exceptional mode purity, ideal for laboratory and
OEM applications. Designs vary significantly from one
manufacturer to another due to the unique and often
proprietary methods used to optimize performance; it
is therefore best to select a manufacturer with a solid
manufacturing track record to ensure reliable operation for
10,000 hours or more.
Green DPSS lasers emitting at 532 nm are used in place
of traditional flashlamp-pumped doubled Nd:YAG lasers
in spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence, medical
diagnostics, alignment, and a wide variety of testing
applications. Yellow DPSS lasers emitting at 561 nm are
ideal for excitation of biomedical fluorescence, including
microscopy, flow cytometry and DNA analysis.

Output wavelength & stability

Our catalog lasers are available in discrete wavelengths
from 408 nm to 640 nm, with many other wavelengths
available. The wavelength or frequency stability of a
laser will depend on its type and the specific design.
Fluctuations of < 0.1 Hz are often referred to as drift,
while faster fluctuations are considered noise, or for
sudden frequency shifts, jitter. DPSS laser drift is due
primarily to temperature variations, which we control to
within 0.5 nm using thermoelectric cooling (drift is 1.0
nm for our 532 nm DPSS laser). HeNe lasers exhibit much
less drift due the use of a gas as the gain medium, but
can vary in frequency by hundreds of MHz due to small
variations in cavity length with environmental conditions.
Our frequency stabilized HeNe lasers limit this variation
in frequency to less than a few MHz, even over 8 hours.
Monitoring of the longitudinal modes within the cavity
combined with a feedback loop to adjust the cavity length
give our stabilized HeNe lasers their rock-solid frequency
and power stability, with a coherence length measured
in kilometers. They are ideal for calibration, fiber optic
and diode testing, interferometry, and surface defect
inspection.

Laser modes and M2

Beam Characteristics:

Laser resonators have both transverse and longitudinal

modes. Longitudinal modes correspond to different
resonances along the length of the laser cavity, and
occur at different frequencies or wavelengths within the
gain bandwidth of the laser. When there are multiple
longitudinal modes, a power fluctuation phenomenon
called mode sweeping occurs. All unstabilized HeNe
lasers exhibit this effect, which occurs when temperature
variations cause changes in cavity length, creating a small
change in mode spacing and therefore the absolute
wavelength of each cavity mode. In effect, the comb
of longitudinal modes drifts relative to the Doppler
broadened line center, causing amplitude fluctuations of a
few percent.

A large part of selecting the right laser is gaining an

understanding of the beam characteristics, stability and
operating parameters. This section will briefly review the
major specifications given for HeNe, diode, DPSS, and
DDD lasers available for online purchase from Melles
Griot, with notes on their relative performance.

Transverse modes can be seen in the intensity pattern of

the beam in cross-section, and are defined by the number
of minima in the x and y directions. The fundamental
mode of a laser, TEM00, is Gaussian in shape, with peak
intensity at the center. A mode with a single minimum
along one axis and no minimum in the perpendicular

Directly doubled diode (DDD) lasers couple a 976 nm

telecom diode laser to a second harmonic generator to
directly convert its output to 488 nm light, followed by
collimating optics at the output. The resulting design
is highly efficient, reliable, and easily manufactured
in volume. They can be used as a compact, low-cost
replacement for air-cooled argon-ion lasers, reducing
power consumption dramatically, simplifying thermal
handling, and increasing system life. In this capacity,
they find use in many bioanalytical and fluorescence
applications, as well as in spectroscopy and semiconductor
inspection.

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direction is denoted TEM01 or TEM10, depending on

orientation.
The beam quality factor, M2, arises from the propagation
factor k, which describes the relationship of a nonGaussian beam to a Gaussian beam as it passes through
an optical system.


Equation 1
Where is the wavelength of the beam, w0 is the beam
waist, and v is the far-field divergence of the beam. If k{
M{1, the beam is Gaussian. If M2>1, then the beam is not
Gaussian, but all of the standard Gaussian propagating
formulas may be used with appropriate modifications. M2
for the TEM01 mode is 2.3, while M2 for the TEM10 mode
is 3.6. Our HeNe lasers are available with M2 < 1.1, and
our DPSS lasers are available with M2 < 1.2. Diode lasers
possess a natural asymmetry, which we are able to correct
such that M2 does not exceed 1.4.
Beam diameter (1/e2)
Beam diameter or beam width is most often defined by
the point at which the beam intensity has fallen to 1/
e2, or 13.5% of its peak value when measured normal to
the optical axis of the beam. This assumes propagation
of a Gaussian beam, and therefore works well for lasers
operating in TEM00 mode. Beam diameters for our lasers
are in the range 1.0 0.5 mm, depending on the specific
laser. Our low power 632.8 nm HeNe lasers offer the
smallest beam diameter.
Far-field divergence
Gaussian beams do not diverge linearly. Close to the laser,

the divergence angle is very small, while far from the laser,
the divergence angle approaches a limit defined by the
beam waist and its wavelength. The far-field divergence
of a laser is typically measured at a distance 10x the
Rayleigh range away from the laser. Far-field divergence
is an important parameter when calculating spot size and
other parameters in an optical train. Far-field divergence
for our lasers varies, but is no more than 2 mrad, with the
exception of our high power blue and green DPSS lasers.
Polarization
Most of our HeNe lasers are available in unpolarized
or linearly polarized (extinction ratio >500:1) formats.
Our frequency stabilized HeNe operates with a single
longitudinal mode, and is thus highly linearly polarized
(>5000:1 extinction ratio). Diode lasers are linearly
polarized due to the geometry and nature of their laser
cavity, but offer lower extinction ratio (>100:1). DPSS lasers
are also linearly polarized with >100:1 extinction ratio.
Power Stability
Frequency and amplitude fluctuations are closely tied in
lasers, due to the heavy dependence of both factors on
the cavity length and conditions. Many of the causes of
wavelength/frequency stability already discussed result
simultaneously in power fluctuations. Additionally, optical
noise often arises due to mode beating, caused by
interference between multiple transverse or longitudinal
modes within the cavity. This can result in peak-to-peak
fluctuations of a few percent, and can be eliminated only
by limiting the laser output to a single transverse and
single longitudinal mode.
Amplitude fluctuations can be stabilized in diode and
DPSS lasers using ACC (automatic current control) or APC
(automatic power control). ACC monitors the current

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driving the pumping process, providing feedback and

correction to minimize fluctuations. The output of HeNe
lasers cannot be stabilized via APC, as their output is
highly insensitive to the discharge current. APC monitors
light output from the laser via a sampled beam to a
photodetector, upon which feedback into the system
stimulates adjustments to regulate power output. ACC
does not correct for fluctuations caused by vibration
or misalignment, while APC does. Neither control
mechanism has a large impact on frequency stability.
Melles Griot specifies amplitude fluctuations (noise) for a
range of frequencies starting at 10 30 Hz and going up to
1 10 MHz, using root mean square (rms) and sometimes
peak-to-peak to properly characterize the lasers
performance. While most of our lasers specify noise over
a broad frequency range, some, like the 85-GCB series, are
optimized for reduced noise over lower frequency range.
Long term power drift for our lasers is typically < 2%,
measured over a period of 2 8 hours.
Warm-up time and pointing stability
Our HeNe lasers require 15 30 minutes of warm-up
time to come to thermal equilibrium, after which pointing
stability can measured in hundredths of a mrad. Our DPSS
lasers require less than 5 minutes of warm-up time to
achieve the same pointing stability. Diode lasers do not
have a required warm-up time, but their pointing stability
tends to vary with temperature, and can be as low as < 5
rad/C for our diode lasers.

Operating considerations
In addition to optical performance, practical factors like
operating temperature, electrical requirements, and
computer control should be considered. Our diode and
DPSS lasers are designed for operation over a wide range
of temperatures, though they can withstand a much wider
range when not in operation. Our HeNe lasers are most
robust with temperature, operating easily between -20C
and +40C, and withstanding non-operating temperatures
of -40C to +80C. All of our lasers are available for use
at either 115 or 230 V, though this must often be specified
prior to purchase. Only the diode and DPSS lasers offer
RS-232 control. Our HeNe product line includes both class
II and class IIIa/IIIb lasers, while our diode and DPSS lasers
are up to class IV, and therefore pose an immediate skin
and eye hazard upon direct contact. We recommend that
appropriate safety precautions be taken.

Making the final decision

Though all of the parameters discussed above are
important in selecting a laser, the choice often comes
down to wavelength, coupling method, polarization, and
power. The selection flowcharts below are intended to
speed you in that process, with an additional chart of
power vs. wavelength for our off-the-shelf lasers operating
at up to 100 mW. If you do not see the product you
require, or would like to discuss an OEM version of a
product, please contact us to discuss.

Selection Guide

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