What are 473, 589, 635 and other wavelengths used for?

My understanding atm is 473 is used in some projectors and 589 and 635 have no uses outside the hobby. Am i right?

Also, this is for an essay and i'm going to need to source people that give me info so if you're happy to be sourced put your first & last names and your relation with lasers (e.g. if you work with them, have any qualifications relating to them, or just have a lot of fun with them).

Thanks!

And if anyone is willing to answer more questions when i have them, say so and i'll PM you when such questions come along.

I've always wanted a 589nm-only projector. I think the beautiful golden color would look amazing, but the cost for a unit with enough power to do it well is a bit high for my tastes..

Those wavelengths can be used for anything really.. Observatories use 589nm beams to generate "guide stars" in the upper atmosphere to help their telescopes adjust for atmospheric distortion. 635nm is used in laser shows frequently. Most visible lasers have both scientific and entertainment purposes.

Ok. To explain my question a bit better, the 660\650nm diodes we all know and love are manufactured for the purpose of going in DVD burners (what a waste!) and 405nm diodes come from BluRay readers & writers (another waste...). Is there a well-defined use like these for the afforementioned modules?

445nm Are used in projectors I know.
/Smartassness

This could help for the 589's

This could help for the 635's

Sure, they have purpose in lab/industrial environments for many different purposes ranging from DNA sequencing to fluorescence experiments to surgery and the list goes on and on. Lasers are always made for some sort of scientific, medical or industrial purpose. Just the fact that a laser exists means it has a distinct use somewhere. For entertainment, people just take these lasers that were made for a specific purpose and make them into pointers or projectors etc.. There are no lasers that just happened to be made for no particular purpose.

473nm, 589nm, 593nm, and 635nm are all used in optogenetics. Originally, 473nm and 593nm were used. This has since expanded. Some really smart people (I believe it was Karl Deisseroth now at Stanford is the leading figure) figured out that genetically altering certain genes would create proteins in neurons that controlled ion channels that were sensitive to certain wavelengths of light. Now they can inhibit or depolarize neurons by stimulating the ion channel proteins with laser light. They fiber couple the laser with 50-100um multimode fiber, cleave the end of the fiber and insert it into the cell. The research is ground breaking. Everything from investigating how neurons interact, to overall brain function with drug addicts is wide open for optogenetic research.

Laser wavelengths are never created for the hobby. The hobby assumes ownership of wavelengths based on price and power from scientific or industrial uses.

Hey FrothyChimp, next week i will try to shine my new laser at the new subject to see if i can activate his ion channels. op:

That could result in indirect depolarization of the fight/flight response in the subject and a trip to emergency room to have your laser removed from your rectum. :crackup:

The preferred experimental set up is a fiber inserted into the brain directly.

Hold on let me do some little analization here, it's a bit off topic but what the heck !

Depolarization, flight, fight, subject, trip, laser and rectum.

YouTube - Look Into My Eyes (While I Masturbate) :crackup:

In astronomy 589 is used to make an artificial star to be used to measure atmospheric blurring.
APOD: 2010 September 6 - A Laser Strike at the Galactic Center