Who doesn't love a humongous laser? Here at ExtremeTech, we're fans of both 1) technology and 2) extremes, and lasers are toward the far end of both spectra. So, do you have a minute? In the spirit of ...

Lasers! Clearly they are awesome — but how do they work, exactly? Why aren’t we all carrying them around in our pockets? Well, believe it or not, you probably are — thanks to modern electronics.

The basis of a solid-state diode laser is, of course, the diode. Laser diodes can have different emission wavelength—most of them have between 405 nm to 808 nm. The diodes usually have TO3, TO5, TO9, ...