LASER MODULES WITH INTEGRATED NICHIA LASER DIODES

Nichia laser diodes are based on the semiconductor materials gallium nitiride or indium gallium nitride. They are available at wavelengths from 370nm ~ 520nm. The most common wavelengths used in R&D applications are 375nm, 405nm and 488nm. The most common of these, and by far the most affordable, is the 405nm wavelength. This wavelength is used for more applications than any other in the "blue" range. Because of its use in high volume consumer products such as blue-ray, the economies of scale have made this wavelength very affordable. The blue laser output is a result of the semiconductor materials used to grow the laser diode chip. Blue lasers can also be created by frequency doubling longer wavelength IR lasers / DPSS lasers. To differentiate the frequency-doubled IR and DPSS lasers from a laser diode, a blue laser diode is often referred to as a "native blue" laser.

Laser Diodes from Nichia are offered with output powers from several mW up to 1500mW. They are typically offered in a 3.8mm, 5.6mm or 9mm TO-Can type package. There are variants for both single transverse mode, and multimode devices. They are almost always mounted with an internal zener diode to protect the laser chip from reverse voltage and ESD damage. Because of the semiconductor materials used to manufacture blue laser diodes, the operating voltage is a bit higher than other visible laser diodes. They typcally have an operating voltage in the range of 4V to 8V.