I already have a green 532 laser and I understand it's the brightest color of laser available.
If the 532 is the brightest then what's the next level down in brightness?
531 nm
HaHa, that is the correct answer except that it doesn't exist as far as I know. The answer your probably looking for is 520nm. I have one and even at only 82mW it still has a visible beam.
Alan
So really, 532 is sort of the second. Maybe even third, depends on your definition of common.
Actually the peak brightness for beams (using the CIE 1978 model corrected for Rayleigh scattering) is closer to 540nm.
It has been established that the maximum spectral sensitivity of the human eye under daylight conditions is at a wavelength of 555nm, while at night the peak shifts to 507 nm.
Source? All the CIE 1978 plots I've seen peak at 555.
A lot of people seem to be forgetting that perceived brightness depends on wavelength AND power.
A 3mW 561nm pointer will only have 13% more luminosity (therefore <4% increase in perceived brightness) compared with a 3mW 532nm pointer. This is negligible - you're not even going to see a 4% difference.
A 4mW 532nm pointer is still brighter han a 3mW 561nm pointer. 532 DPSS is available in much higher powers for much lower prices than 561 DPSS.
Going with "the spirit" of the question, 520nm would subjectively be the proper answer.
Source? All the CIE 1978 plots I've seen peak at 555.
He meant beam brightness. Because shorter wavelengths get scattered more in the air, a shorter wavelength is going to loose more power through beam scattering, resulting in a brighter beam. I'm sure you knew this I just wanted to clarify.