I don't know of any crystals that lase in visible wavelengths, but I'm guessing that this is exactly what the Cobolt Flamenco 660nm lasers is doing.. Either that or SHG on a 1320 nm YAG which seems likely after a bit of Googling. That's one of the things I'm asking after, along with wondering if anyone else is doing that for 660nm. By 'no SHG' I mean what 808nm diodes do to get 1064nm. With new powerful shortwave pump light, some crystal may exist that will convert some of it to something we can use, with a thin TEM00 beam, low divergence, immunity to optical feedback of any kind (never mind retroreflection death), and fast stable linear modulation.
It may be easy to argue that if it can be done it IS being done, but the demands for light shows are not the same as for many other purposes, and some firms seem so scared of losing their scientific credentials by even vaguely appearing to have any connection with this trade that they may be avoiding any related research on purpose. While many now actively claim support for show lasers (Oclara (was Opnext) now do, and those Cobolt lasers do too), it may be possible that useful no-SHG research for show lasers isn't being done yet. After all, Cambridge Technology never made scanners with light shows as prime purpose as far as I know, not until Bill Benner (Pangolin) worked on them. Even now, if he makes his scanners and drivers available, I have been told that CT might pull out of the field leaving it clear for Pangolin. Point being: If we want these crystals, something similar may first have to happen in some crystal-making lab somewhere... Incidentally, unless my memory is scattered too much, one of the reason we have easy access to those strong blue laser diodes is that Nichia managed to annoy Shuji Nakamura. If he hadn't left Nichia, we might still not have them at a price anyone wants to pay.
About Kvant, I have no idea, was just told on PL last night that they had one.
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Originally Posted by planters
