The advantages of direct diode lasers are the high wall plug efficiency, order of magnitude smaller footprint, lower maintenance, high absorption in work piece, and high control bandwidth. The HPDL are very small and compact, such that the entire laser head can easily be mounted to the end of the robotic arm or gantry for use. Another advantage of direct diode lasers is that they are solid-state lasers. This yields a highly controllable heat source. Unlike conventional systems, diode lasers do not require warm up time to stabilize. Power can also be turned on and off instantaneously, which realizes additional energy savings.