Diode ratings

[mike666]

I have seen some lasers on various sites that have laser diodes rated at 1W or even 5W.
However the resulting CW output is much lower, like 300mW or something similar.

I don't know about laser diodes but if one is rated at say 1W does that mean it can produce a beam rated at 1W?

If so, why are the resulting beam outputs much lower.

 

[Zom-B]

It depends on the manufacturer's spec

Optical storage diodes are often rated pulsed, and their CW rating is (i thought) 50% of that (pulse is 50% duty on average while burning)

 

[skylasers.net]

Don't forget that the light emitted by the laser diode must also go through various optical lenses. Each lens that the laser goes through will decrease your lasers final power output. For green dpss lasers, there are not only lenses but also various crystals and an IR filter. Each medium that the laser goes through before coming out the aperture will decrease the laser's final output. Hope this makes sense!