The Blue Laser Diode

From the reviews of the first edition: "The technical chapters will be lapped up by semiconductor specialists keen to know more [...] the book includes fascinating material that answers the question: why did Nakamura succeed where many, much larger, research groups failed." New Scientist

In 1993, the author, Shuji Nakamura developed the first commercially available blue and green light-emitting diodes. Now he has made the most important breakthrough in solid state laser techniques to date - the first blue semiconductor laser based on GaN. Here, Dr. Nakamura discusses the physical concept and basic manufacturing technology of these new blue light-emitting and laser diodes. he shows how this represents a new era in commercial applications for semiconductors, including displays, road and railway signalling, lighting, scanners, optical data storage, and much more. Moreover, Nakamura provides fascinating background information on the extraordinary realisation of an extremely successful concept of research and development. Of interest to researchers as well as engineers.

The compact size, reliability, and low cost of diode lasers lead to applications throughout modern technology-most importantly in modern optical telecommunication systems. This book presents a comprehensive introduction to the principles and operation of diode lasers. It begins with a review of semiconductor physics and laser fundamentals, before describing the most basic homojunction laser. Later chapters describe more advanced laser types and their applications, including the most recently developed and exotic laser designs. The author's intuitive style, coupled with an extensive set of worked examples and sample problems, make this an outstanding introduction to the subject.

Laser diodes represent a key element in the emerging field of opto electronics which includes, for example, optical communication, optical sensors or optical disc systems. For all these applications, information is either transmitted, stored or read out. The performance of these systems depends to a great deal on the performance of the laser diode with regard to its modulation and noise characteristics. Since the modulation and noise characteristics of laser diodes are of vital importance for optoelectronic systems, the need for a book arises that concentrates on this subject. This book thus closes the gap between books on the device physics of semiconductor lasers and books on system design. Complementary to the specific topics concerning modulation and noise, the first part of this book reviews the basic laser characteristics, so that even a reader without detailed knowledge of laser diodes may follow the text. In order to understand the book, the reader should have a basic knowledge of electronics, semiconductor physics and optical communica tions. The work is primarily written for the engineer or scientist working in the field of optoelectronics; however, since the book is self-contained and since it contains a lot of numerical examples, it may serve as a textbook for graduate students. In the field of laser diode modulation and noise a vast amount has been published during recent years. Even though the book contains more than 600 references, only a small part of the existing literature is included.

William Risk, Timothy Gosnell and Arto Nurmikko have brought together their diverse expertise from industry and academia to write the first fully comprehensive book on the generation and application of blue-green lasers. This volume describes the theory and practical implementation of three techniques for the generation of blue-green light: nonlinear frequency conversion of infrared lasers, upconversion lasers, and wide bandgap semiconductor diode lasers. In addition, it looks at the various applications that have driven the development of compact sources of blue-green light, and reflects on the recent application of these lasers in high-density data storage, color displays, reprographics, and biomedical technology. Compact Blue-Green Lasers is suitable for graduate-level courses or as a reference for academics and professionals in optics, applied physics, and electrical engineering.