A seriously expensive laser pointer....

Well, it likely would be - if they were ever to make one! ;D
http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20081212-18573-2.html

How powerful is it?

Are they talking about making DPSS from diamonds?

Well aren't BBO crystals or Gallium Nitride die (the lasing element in 405nm diodes) worth more than diamond by weight? Are they talking about using the diamond as the pumping medium? I don't think the laser would produce visible light.

I think they are talking about doping diamonds with either Nd or a similar medium.

The power limitations on nd:yag, for example, is that you can damage the crystal. You can only pump them so hard before they just break or overheat. The YAG crystal itself doesn't lase, it is the material that the crystal is doped with. The crystal itself is just a host and has great optical qualities for transmitting laser light. If you use a lower doping percentage, you can pump it a bit harder etc.

With diamond, it is so strong and dissipates heat so efficiently that one could probably use a very high dopant percentage and still pump it with a lot of energy before damage would occur.

That's what I thought...But what about this? :-/

Their excellent optical properties have long been known, and there have been significant efforts around the globe to demonstrate diamond (diode) lasers for more than 15 years.

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hmmm a diamond diode laser.... Maybe because they can 'grow' the diamond into the diode much as the 'grow' the other materials on the die now? (at least that is my understanding of how they can do it... I could be totally wrong but I remember hearing something about growing something right on the die itself)

GooeyGus said:

hmmm a diamond diode laser.... Maybe because they can 'grow' the diamond into the diode much as the 'grow' the other materials on the die now? (at least that is my understanding of how they can do it... I could be totally wrong but I remember hearing something about growing something right on the die itself)

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the growth is by thin film deposition. the team i work with makes DLC coatings all the time. there are many ways it can be done but the most popular ways is hitting a piece of carbon with a very high peak power and very tightly focused microsecond pulsed laser (like a q-switched 4th harmonic YAG, or Excimer).

This is done under vacuum and the carbon target is very close to the sub straight. when the carbon is in its plasma state it hits the sub straight and recombines into synthetic diamond/carbon. though DLC coatings are not pure diamond they do exhibit very strong bonds and an almost scratch proof property with only a few hundred nanometers coated on a piece glass.

As for a highly pure and optically transparent host for neodymium doping im not sure exactly how they produce that. our coatings still have a lot of dirty carbon mixed in them.

Thanks for that guys very interesting