Patent ID: 8199784

Claim:
A laser light source, comprising: a semiconductor laser adapted for pulsed operation and comprising a front reflective element and a back reflective element, said front reflective element and said back reflective element defining an internal laser cavity, said internal laser cavity comprising a laser active medium; a power source configured to supply a pulsed electric current to said semiconductor laser, wherein said power source is adapted to supply said pulsed electric current with a pulse duration in a range from about 3 nanoseconds to about 1 microsecond, and wherein the pulsed electric current has a duty cycle of 10% or less; and a partially transmitting wavelength selective light reflector having a peak reflectivity within a gain bandwidth of said laser active medium, said wavelength selective light reflector and said back reflective element defining an external laser cavity, wherein a roundtrip time of light in said external laser cavity is about 20 nanoseconds or less; and wherein a full width half maximum bandwidth of said wavelength selective light reflector is adapted to accommodate at least 5 longitudinal modes of the internal laser cavity and at least 20 longitudinal modes of the external laser cavity.