Learn how pulsed laser diodes work, which parameters matter most, and where they are used in LiDAR, metrology, sensing, and industrial laser systems. They are ideally suited to rangefinding thanks to their short pulse widths and high output powers. A laser diode (LD, also injection laser diode or ILD or semiconductor laser or diode laser) is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in which a diode pumped directly with electrical current can create lasing conditions at the diode's junction. A pulsed laser releases light in brief bursts or waves, lasting between nanoseconds and femtoseconds instead of emitting light continuously. This induces population inversion (of electrons in the excited state) in.