Finally, a True Green Laser

dusty writes "Remember those green lasers from Star Wars? Turns out that faking green lasers has been easy for years, but making true green laser diodes has been the stuff of science fiction. Until recently, that is. Now researchers from Japan have created the world's first true green laser diode. Until now, only red and blue laser diodes were available, and now with the addition of green, new TVs and projectors that are more efficient can be produced. And if you were wondering how green lasers pointers are already produced, it is a hack that involved doubling the frequency of an infrared laser. The new true green laser diodes have much higher efficiency than the current 6%, leading many to expect big time laser display breakthroughs in the near future. Ars Technica has a well-written article on this breakthrough."

Comments

What Headline/Summary Nonsense

[Anonymous Coward]

Firstly, I really don't see how the solid state lasers using frequency doubling are "fake" lasers.

Even so, outside the realm of small laser pointers, there are such a thing as gas lasers and they can produce a true green emission.

The possible breakthrough is the production of more efficient semiconductor lasers that emit in the green range, not the production of the first "True Green Laser".

Yeah, this is Slashdot...Whatever