4. Research areas and long-term trends
Extending the emission wavelength range of semiconductor lasers is an important area of research. New structures emitting in the shallow UV (350 to 250 nm) would find numerous applications in biomedical instrumentation, in purification techniques and also in information storage to further increase the storage capacities of optical disks. Research into structures covering the near infrared (3 to 10 µm) is also aimed at developing new applications in gas analysis and detection, and in specific devices developed for military needs.
As we have already seen (§ 3.1
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Research areas and long-term trends
Bibliography
Economic data
Markets
The world market for semiconductor lasers is regularly monitored by Strategies Unlimited, whose study results are regularly published in Laser Focus at the beginning of each year. Total sales for all applications combined rose from just under $2 billion in 1996 to $3.14 billion in 2006 (figure
Manufacturers (non-exhaustive list)
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Single-mode lasers for telecom applications (1.3-1.5 µm)
Avanex (Ex Alcatel Optronics) http://www.avanex.com/
JDS Uniphase http://www.jdsu.com/
Bookham (Ex Nortel)...
Distributors (non-exhaustive list)
Laser 2000 http://www.laser2000.fr/
Bfi Optilas http://www.bfioptilas.com/
Scientific equipment http://www.es-france.com/
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