Semiconductor sources advance deeper into the ultraviolet
As violet-diode lasers become the base of a new generation of optical storage systems, developers are exploring the UV frontier of LEDs and diode lasers.

Laser Focus World, February 1, 2005

The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC; Palo Alto, CA) is working to push ­diode lasers to 320 nm and have demonstrated optically pumped laser hetero­structures at wavelengths to 308 nm. They are now working to improve the electrical properties. Noble Johnson of PARC thinks his group is close to a 320-nm current-driven diode laser, but can’t predict when they will reach laser threshold. “Right now, the hurdle is to get the threshold voltages and currents down to reasonable values and we are making steady progress,” he adds.

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