BIG News: Green Laser Diodes

[pullbangdead]

So it was only a matter of time. Early this year, Rohm announced 500nm laser diodes. A couple of months ago, Nichia published 514nm electrically-pumped diodes.

And today, Sumitomo announced an electrically-pumped, direct injection green laser diode successfully lasing at 531 nm in pulsed operation at room temperature.

It's now just a matter of time for displays, projectors, and a whole host of consumer products. A long time yet, but still just a matter of time. It lases, and that's what matters at this point. Yields, lifetime, performance, manufacturability, all those will come soon enough, but the first one WORKS.

Link, and before anyone can even ask, beamshots:

Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. | Press Release (2009) Sumitomo Electric Develops The World’s First Pure Green Semiconductor Laser

 

[millirad]

Great news Pullbang! Engineering samples please Sumitomo!

 

[ElektroFreak]

Nice!! @millirad I hope you have a few thousand $$ to drop on an engineering sample..

 

[Gryphon]

Thats insane! I'll bet those 500nm and 514nm laser diodes must have produced an incredibly cool shade of turquoise Too bad its probably gonna be a while longer till us hobbiest can get our hands on em

 

[Grix]

Wow..

All the FAQ's saying green diodes don't exist need to be edited

 

[nikokapo]

OH MY CHUCK THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME

Me can't wait!!

 

[styropyro]

The sad thing is that most of us here are more exited for the laser diodes we will be able to harvest for our own handheld builds, and not for the cool products that will be made from these.

 

[nikokapo]

The sad thing is that most of us here are more exited for the laser diodes we will be able to harvest for our own handheld builds, and not for the cool products that will be made from these.

You sure you wouldn't want a laser TV ?

 

[Grix]

Laser TV's were supposed to come out this fall, but then the LED TV came instead

 

[pullbangdead]

Laser TV's were supposed to come out this fall, but then the LED TV came instead

The Samsung LED TVs are technically still LCD displays, they're jsut using LED backlights instead of fluorescent backlights. There are some small OLED screens out now where the image really is made by small LEDs emitting each color, but the current LED TVs still are LCD technology to display the colors.

And the Mitsubishi LaserVue is supposedly out now, but apparently pretty hard to find or buy. But this breakthrough and subsequent work will enable even better TVs than the current LaserVue. Smaller, brighter, lighter, more energy efficient, better color range, and cheaper. Quite a combination, isn't it?

 

[Darkarmyofone]

VERY interesting! too bad theres no ACTUAL photo of the diode...

I'm NOT calling ANYONE a liar, but that could be an 0-like module in a steel box... BUT I HOPE IT ISNT!! lol

I'd kill for a pocket mini TRIO, i've got red and green "300mW & 400mW+" now alls we needs is green ^_^

But i'd settle for turqouis!

 

[BuildAbluraylaser]

Green laser diode are interesting, but I would prfer to pay fro those 500nm turqoise ones.


That must be so coool.

 

[Benm]

You sure you wouldn't want a laser TV ?

That is still a very long stretch... a 40"-ish inch tv produces an optical output of dozens of watts, something that cannot be done with laser diodes providing only 100's of mW's for each color.

Then again there is a huge market for smaller screen size laser projectors, but i remain somewhat sceptical until i see one of these green (or even true blue) diodes in an application on the consumer market (even if it costs 1000s at introduction).

 

[pseudolobster]

That is still a very long stretch... a 40"-ish inch tv produces an optical output of dozens of watts, something that cannot be done with laser diodes providing only 100's of mW's for each color.

Then again there is a huge market for smaller screen size laser projectors, but i remain somewhat sceptical until i see one of these green (or even true blue) diodes in an application on the consumer market (even if it costs 1000s at introduction).

Reviews of Mitsubishi's 65" LaserVue TV's seem to find no problem with brightness. If you ask me, staring into a 100mW laser seems a lot brighter than looking at a 100W light bulb.

 

[nikokapo]

That is still a very long stretch... a 40"-ish inch tv produces an optical output of dozens of watts, something that cannot be done with laser diodes providing only 100's of mW's for each color.

Then again there is a huge market for smaller screen size laser projectors, but i remain somewhat sceptical until i see one of these green (or even true blue) diodes in an application on the consumer market (even if it costs 1000s at introduction).

I know, but they've gotta start somewhere...

 

[FireMyLaser]

'bout fickin' time!