Oct 31, 2026 · 7 min · 8 segments
Is a picosecond laser really better than a nanosecond laser? What are you really getting with a cheap laser off the internet? Billy DeCola, founder of Studio Kiku, explains what picosecond…
What does Q-switched actually mean? A lot of people think Q-switched means an older type of laser.
A crystal inside the laser fills up with energy and a switch holds it back like a gate.
When the gate opens, all the energy comes out at once in one big, Very short pulse.
It was shown to work in the early 1960s and lasers are currently being built with the same exact technology.
What's the difference between a picosecond laser and a nanosecond laser? It's how long the pulse lasts.
A nanosecond is one billionth of a second, and a picosecond is one trillionth of a second.
So you'd think a picosecond laser's pulse is a thousand times shorter than a nanosecond laser's.
That makes a picosecond pulse anywhere between 6 and 80 times shorter than a nanosecond laser.
not a thousand times so the question is can a pico second laser be q switched and the answer is yes the first pico second laser came out in 2012 and it was advertised by the manufacturer as a q switched Alexandrite laser.
So a Q-switch laser isn't necessarily old and it isn't necessarily a nanosecond laser.
What does Q-switched actually mean? A lot of people think Q-switched means an older type of laser.
A crystal inside the laser fills up with energy and a switch holds it back like a gate.
When the gate opens, all the energy comes out at once in one big, Very short pulse.
It was shown to work in the early 1960s and lasers are currently being built with the same exact technology.
What's the difference between a picosecond laser and a nanosecond laser? It's how long the pulse lasts.
A nanosecond is one billionth of a second, and a picosecond is one trillionth of a second.
So you'd think a picosecond laser's pulse is a thousand times shorter than a nanosecond laser's.
That makes a picosecond pulse anywhere between 6 and 80 times shorter than a nanosecond laser.
not a thousand times so the question is can a pico second laser be q switched and the answer is yes the first pico second laser came out in 2012 and it was advertised by the manufacturer as a q switched Alexandrite laser.
So a Q-switch laser isn't necessarily old and it isn't necessarily a nanosecond laser.
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