Laserati

Nine research groups have begun tackling the challenge of producing a high-power 500 nm semiconductor laser in a three-year US-based research program called VIGIL.

The teams met to initiate the program at the end of November, and they have until June 2009 to hit the first milestone and produce a workable green laser based on GaN.

VIGIL stands for Visible InGaN Injection Lasers, a name that reflects the need to include high proportions of indium to obtain green light from GaN-based laser diodes. More at Optics.org