Diode lasers use a small electronic component (semiconductor diode) to generate the laser beam when electricity is applied. These devices are currently used in the fields of telecommunications and medicine and in industrial cutting and welding applications. It works on the same basic principle as an LED, but with an internal structure that forces photons to align in phase and direction, producing coherent laser light instead of the. A laser diode is a semiconductor laser device that is very similar, in both form and operation, to a light-emitting diode (LED). The term laser originated as an acronym: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.