A computer model of a semiconductor laser has shown that deep‐level electron traps with realistic physical parameters can cause a device to emit light in very short (20 ps) pulses, with high peak power (0.5 W) and a few nanoseconds repetition rate. The pulses appear suddenly as threshold current is reached causing the average output power to suddenly jump to a few milliwatts. A single optical pulse can be triggered by a longer current pulse containing fewer electrons than the number of photons omitted. These triggerable semiconductor lasers can shorten and amplify a detected light pulse making possible a number of lightwave‐logic applications.