Tuesday, January 30, 2007

UCSB Team Makes Laser Breakthrough

A team of researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, are reporting this week that they have made a major breakthrough in the development of laser diodes. The team said that they have achieved lasing operation in nonpolar gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, creating the world's first nonpolar blue-violet laser diodes. The UCSB team said that the breakthrough could lead to a replacement for current lasers used for the HD DVD and Blu Ray next generation video formats. The laser diodes could also be used for optical storage, high definition displays, and medical applications. The team was led by Shuji Nakamura, who developed the blue LED.