The sapphire used for lasers is generally titanium-doped sapphire.

The biggest difference or the biggest advantage between it and the YAG crystal laser is that the output wavelength of the sapphire laser can be adjusted (680-1100nm), so it can be widely used. Various materials requiring different wavelengths are widely used in the laboratory. Generally speaking, it needs to be excited by a frequency-doubled YAG laser before it can emit light.

In contrast, the biggest advantage of YAG is that it is cheap and relatively stable in performance, and is widely used in industrial processing. The light it emits is 1064nm, which can be absorbed by many metals, and can be absorbed by quartz and glass after frequency doubling.

Therefore, it is widely used in laser marking, drilling, and engraving. Therefore, they each have their own advantages and different scope of application. It’s hard to compare who is better.