Japanese electronics news portal Tech-On is reporting that LED manufacturing giant Nichia is to start shipping samples of its new green diode laser product. The oscillation wavelength of the laser is 510nm, which is a little short for green colour. But the company claims that the laser looks green.
Nichia has been engaged in the development of a diode laser that directly emits green light. But this is the first time that the company will commercialise it. Nichia will start sample shipment in August 2010, aiming to start volume production in the summer of 2011.
Currently, most of the green diode lasers commercialised for display devices convert the wavelength of infrared laser light by using SHG (second harmonic generation). In other cases, some green diode lasers convert the wavelength of blue laser light by using fluorescent materials.
Because the new diode laser directly emits green light, it may reduce the sizes of pico projectors and costs.
The optical output of the green diode laser is 50mW when driven at 200mA and 5V (case temperature: 25°C). The life of the laser (the time until its current increases to 1.3 times the initial current value) is estimated to be 10,000 hours if it is used at the optical output of 50mW and at a constant output (APC) under continuous operation (case temperature: 60°C,).