Spectrochemical applications of semiconductor lasers

Semiconductor laser diodes of the AlGaAs and InGaAsP type combine the special spectroscopic properties of tunable, cw lasers, such as narrow band width and high spectral radiation density, with properties which are important for compact and routinely operated spectrochemical instruments of high detection sensitivity. Such technical properties are, for example, rapid wavelength tunability by diode current, low amplitude noise, high stability, long lifetime, low price and small size. General aspects of diode laser application in element analysis are given in a recent review.