switched between about 755 nm and about 1064 nm simply by moving one of the solid state lasers translational stages can be used in systems where output beam 115 and or output beam 125 are focused into an optical fiber for delivery of the treatment beam both output beams 115 and 125 can be more efficiently coupled into the fiber without any positional adjustment of the fiber coupling components e g lens not shown both alexandrite and nd yag lasers can be used in dermatological applications therefore the selection of alexandrite and nd yag as the solid state lasers 110 and 120 respectively in the configuration illustrated in fig1 can allow for complementary applications in a single system the q switched versions of both alexandrite and nd yag lasers for example can be used to remove tattoos due to the different optical absorption of the various colors of tattoo pigment an alexandrite laser can remove blue and green tattoos while a nd yag laser can remove black tattoos the second harmonic of a nd yag laser about 532 nm can remove red tattoos likewise long pulse versions of both alexandrite and nd yag lasers can be effective for hair removal however because the wavelengths of alexandrite and nd yag lasers have different optical absorption in melanin an alexandrite laser at about 755 nm can be better for treating light skin patients while a nd yag laser at about 1064 nm can be better for dark skin patients the absorption spectra of nd yag has a continuous band of lines ranging from about 725 nm to about.