ABSTRACT
Lasers can be categorized by whether their active medium is a solid, liquid, or gas. Solid-state lasers were the first type of lasers to be invented (ruby lasers). They have the advantage of being rugged, compact systems that make them useful in non-laboratory environments. Technically, both dielectric host materials with dopants or point defects and semiconductors are solid-state lasers; however, the common terminology is to use the name ‘solid state lasers’ for the former and ‘semiconductor lasers’ for the latter. This chapter deals with solid-state lasers while semiconductor lasers are discussed in Chapter 11.
