Diodes for all color wavelengths why not?

[Blaster]

I cant do a search my phone will not let me just closes the window so I'm apologizing in advance if this has been asked before, but why do we have diodes for reds and violets and blues hell yeah, but others are DPSS or if a diode costs a body part in dollars what is the factor that makes a 589 so expensive and a 520 and a 473 etc.I mean they are just fancy diodes with new processes shouldn't be such a big deal on price you get a 3 watt 445:for less than a 5 mW 589 nm? That may not be spot on but you know what I'm on about

 

[Ears and Eggs]

I think it's as much to do with commercial demand than anything. 660, 445, 405 have uses in products than sell millions of units. The other wavelengths have far less uses and therefore less effort it put into developing them. They probably could develop diodes for almost all visible wavelengths, but some would have no uses other than for hobbyists so no one is going to spend the money to make them.

 

[Blaster]

Some how i thought it was supply and demand ,but what about DPSS greens not enough ppl pointing at aircraft ...im kidding bad joke but most are DPSS and green being most visible would be great as a survival laser rather than blue ..so frustrating i want a yellow so bad but I'm not selling a kidney to get one assuming it even gets in Australia passed customs, hobbies are meant to test us if it was that easy for all colors i suppose it would make it less attractive as a hobby getting a new fancy color

 

[Wolfman29]

Greens are DPSS because they are the easiest color to make with DPSS crystals. In fact, it's so simple that somebody grew their own crystals at home (with no fancy lab fabrication materials/techniques), shined an infrared diode through them, and got a decent amount of green out.

Further, the technology required to make red and infrared diodes has been around far longer than any others. It's a different kind of semiconductor used to make diodes of less than around 600nm (or something). So, when those diodes first came out, and someone wanted a visible laser (i.e. green), they had to use what they had - red/infrared diodes. So, they figured out DPSS long before they managed to make 405nm diodes.

Because that process has been around for so long, it's become absurdly cheap since it has become optimized. On the other hand, 520nm diodes only recently came out (within the last year or two) and so, while they will probably eventually become as ubiquitous as the 445nm diodes, it'll take some time. Right now, they are really only available to buy in mass quantities, directly from the company. We get them from middleman companies who buy directly from the companies.

Further, for other color diodes, yes, they do exist. There are diodes around 473nm, 488nm, there have been experiments in laser diodes emitting around 610nm, but for laser diodes emitting in the mid-high 500nm ranges, none exist as yet I know. The technology just hasn't been developed yet. It requires a completely new type of semiconductor, which means it would probably take millions in research just to develop it... and it would have no use.

 

[ZRaffleticket]

Yeah agreed, its all commercial supply & demand. The only practical use for a 590nm diode would be for "warmer" laser lighting.

445nm is a more ideal color to work with than 473nm for projectors, so that's why we don't see 475nm diodes everywhere.

Much like 520nm diodes with 532nm, more ideal color.

I havent heard of a diode past 540nm (getting more yellow), the only use for one att 555nm would be, you guessed it, brighter pointers... which is still highly impractical given the other diodes available.

I can't foresee 561nm diodes or 488nm diodes becoming "common" due to variations in wavelength, OPSL and DPSS are the only practical ways of getting those due to a need to be centered right at those wavelengths. Remember diodes shift wavelengths pretty readily. (those 2 are used in medical fields)

Chances are, if there is any new, cheap diode coming out, there has to be a damn good reason for it to exist.

 

[shokkunlasers]

I'm just waiting for laser TVs with active diffraction grating and then hope it to develop like normal TVs
1.Increase size
2.increase resulution
3.more color richness (that's where they will add yellow laser diodes:san
So just 10 more years and we've got them definitely :tinfoil:

 

[hwang21]

RGYB PICOPROJECTORS LET'S GO

 

[Encap]

Is unfortunate but low cost mass production of diodes is not determined by the demand of laser pointers makers, which is a very small niche market. Diodes are developed for other purposes and the laser pointer crowd gets the crumbs.

Lots of diodes in different wavelenghts available from just NIchia, but many of them very expensive see:LASER Diode/NICHIA CORPORATION

 

[Things]

If you think about the rapid development in the last 5-6 years or so, the laser diode technology has come an extremely long way. When I first joined this forum, your options for diodes was IR or red.

It has been awesome watching 405, 445, 510 and even 473/488nm diodes come into existence, something not thought would happen for decades just a few year ago.

 

[hwang21]

And that means... fast forward a couple decades... :wtf: