Making a 485nm diode lol :p

Yes this is very exciting stuff for certain The experience is good on top of the lab experience I am getting as a qc analytical chemist right now. Good idea about finding a computational chemist to simulate the diode as well much appreciated m8.

They're already on the market though. Do you really think you'll be granted the resources just to try and dick around to find your own solution? It's not like this is groundbreaking research or anything.

Cyparagon said:

They're already on the market though. Do you really think you'll be granted the resources just to try and dick around to find your own solution? It's not like this is groundbreaking research or anything.

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"Dicking around to find your own solution" is how some poeple learn, Cyp...

Last time I checked, a phd needs to be NEW research.

Cyparagon said:

Last time I checked, a phd needs to be NEW research.

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Yeah it does, I also found out that there is a patent on the 488nm and 503nm diodes and they specify using InGaN as a substrate. My objective is to explore the science though and grow my own laser diode off of their patent, then develop my own 500nm diode with a novel substrate, which would be credible for a thesis.

Cyparagon said:

They're already on the market though. Do you really think you'll be granted the resources just to try and dick around to find your own solution? It's not like this is groundbreaking research or anything.

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Depends on his boss really. Sometimes it is useful to recreate something that's been done before just for the sake of understanding the setup. My last boss let me do a lot of stuff like this.

For example I got to build what was essentially the world's least efficient 421nm violet lamp out of the stuff in his lab using a 75W narrow band 795nm laser diode array and hot rubidium vapor:



I was recreating an experiment where they got unintentional violet glow, and wanted to build a laser out of it. Turns out it isn't possible with my setup. From scratch this experiment would cost ~$50k, but the stuff was already there so it wasn't a big deal to use it for this for a short time.

Now honestly I don't know much about fabricating semiconductors in a lab setting, but if they already have the equipment, it probably doesn't cost much to let an interested student do some of their own runs. The benefits likely outweight the costs here, as now they have a student that has experience using the equipment, and also there is a slim chance that he may discover something interesting/new along the way. Plus from the boss's perspective, a student with interest/curiosity is valuable in its own right and worth allocating some resources towards if it means a better scientist in the end.

styropyro said:

I'm glad to hear that you will be able to work on this in a lab! If you continue working there until you start grad school, you'll get a ton of good lab experience and will have the time to focus on experiments, rather than just classes.

As for your quest on growing 485nm diodes, I wish I had more input but I'm not very knowledgeable on much of the semiconductor stuff. Like others have stated you should try to first recreate a setup from literature and see what kind of results you get, and then start modify it and see what happens. It may be helpful to have a friend who does computational chemistry to run simulations of different possible mixtures/structures.

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After seeing a medium sized Semiconductor production facility at Samsung electronics in SK and the equipment they were using, I must say that most people (correct me if I am wrong), even with the best consumer grade vacuum pumps, high temperate ovens would be probably hard pressed to grow anything semi-conductor related. InGaN requires vapour deposition in a very high vacuum under high temperatures. It is also extremely expensive as a raw material to acquire. The work to get semi-conductor grade substrates to grow is mind bending even with the best equipment.
I wish all those whom attempt growing semiconductors the best of luck. Its sounds like a great challenge.

If you succeed you could sell these for a premium to businesses, the quotes from sites like ProPhotonix I received for 488nm diodes were 1500$ each @ 60mW.

So, you just need to sell 4 or 5 to some companies, and then you can offer to us for next to nothing! =) Goodluck, definitely subscribed.

94Z28 said:

If you succeed you could sell these for a premium to businesses, the quotes from sites like ProPhotonix I received for 488nm diodes were 1500$ each @ 60mW.

So, you just need to sell 4 or 5 to some companies, and then you can offer to us for next to nothing! =) Goodluck, definitely subscribed.

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A semicon fabrication laboratory is not something that can be assembled on a $6K-$7K budget unfortunately.

What kind of package would a new laser diode be put in?

Seoul_lasers said:

After seeing a medium sized Semiconductor production facility at Samsung electronics in SK and the equipment they were using, I must say that most people (correct me if I am wrong), even with the best consumer grade vacuum pumps, high temperate ovens would be probably hard pressed to grow anything semi-conductor related. InGaN requires vapour deposition in a very high vacuum under high temperatures. It is also extremely expensive as a raw material to acquire. The work to get semi-conductor grade substrates to grow is mind bending even with the best equipment.
I wish all those whom attempt growing semiconductors the best of luck. Its sounds like a great challenge.

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The University of California, Berkeley has done several research projects involving the epitaxial growth of InGaN semiconductors. Here's one of their published papers
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/nn200521r
I have given the though of applying there for graduate school seeing as how they have all the necessary inatrumentation.

94Z28 said:

If you succeed you could sell these for a premium to businesses, the quotes from sites like ProPhotonix I received for 488nm diodes were 1500$ each @ 60mW.

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You're living in a dreamland if you think a first success will be anywhere near 60mW. I'm all for building and experimenting, but be realistic.

Styropyro said:

Depends on his boss really. Sometimes it is useful to recreate something that's been done before just for the sake of understanding the setup. My last boss let me do a lot of stuff like this.

For example I got to build what was essentially the world's least efficient 421nm violet lamp out of the stuff in his lab using a 75W narrow band 795nm laser diode array and hot rubidium vapor:

I was recreating an experiment where they got unintentional violet glow, and wanted to build a laser out of it. Turns out it isn't possible with my setup. From scratch this experiment would cost ~$50k, but the stuff was already there so it wasn't a big deal to use it for this for a short time.

Now honestly I don't know much about fabricating semiconductors in a lab setting, but if they already have the equipment, it probably doesn't cost much to let an interested student do some of their own runs. The benefits likely outweight the costs here, as now they have a student that has experience using the equipment, and also there is a slim chance that he may discover something interesting/new along the way. Plus from the boss's perspective, a student with interest/curiosity is valuable in its own right and worth allocating some resources towards if it means a better scientist in the end.

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This is very true. I've almost finished up my PhD and the best lesson for anyone that sees an opportunity, is to ask for the chance. You will never get access to the research tools and equipment if nobody knows you are interested. You might even luck out and say something that sparks your/any thesis advisor's curiosity and have a long time colleague to publish with.

Just a little academia advice to give. Start with the lowest budget project you can think of that aligns with what you want to create/learn/discover. Once in the door start writing grant proposals and let your previous work pave the way for new, more elaborate, expensive, and time consuming endeavors. Best of luck.:beer: