Abstract

Due to recent advances in short wavelength nitride laser diodes it is now possible to fabricate semiconductor lasers that emit in the blue/green range of the spectrum. Many areas in optoelectronics are set to take advantage of these developments. Applications include optical disc storage where a reduction in wavelength combined with improvements in optics and drive mechanics can significantly increase storage capacity. Indeed, a change from red to blue laser diodes would increase the storage capacity of current Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) systems from 4.7 to 18 Gbytes.

© 2000 IEEE