Green laser pointers are definitely the most fashionable “must have” for presentations, seminars, symposium, and lectures. What is a green laser pointer? It is a special laser pointer that emits a green beam instead of a common red one; the technical reasons for this are based on the laser diode. But the reason for desiring the green laser pointer is that it far exceeds the red in power, brightness, rarity, and funny.
Most envy the owners of a green laser pointer due to the simple fact that they are quite less common than the red, giving owners the definite, “Where did you get that cool toy?” In addition, the green laser pointer beam is clearly distinguishable from red beams, whereas the red can be mistaken for one produced by the common hunting accessory resulting in embarrassing misunderstandings. But these mentions of accident and vanity do not address the main point of owning a green laser pointer; it simply works better.
So, what exactly distinguishes a green laser pointer from a red (other than the obvious difference in color?) Star Wars fans have often wondered if there was a great discrepancy between Yoda’s light saber beam and Darth Vader’s. Well, a green laser pointer projects a DPSSFD beam at a wavelength of 532 nm. That’s 50 times brighter than a red laser pointer, which usually beams at 650 nm.) Also, the red laser pointer beam requires a simple internal laser diode on a circuit; the green laser pointer matrix is far more complex.
Not only does the green laser pointer require a laser diode, it also bounces the resulting beam to an internal crystal which has been micro-coated with Neodydium, a rare earth metal typically used for magnets. That beam is sent to a coated crystal of KPT Potassium Titanyl Phosphate. All tolled, that’s a lot of lab work, and very few labs are actually growing the synthetic crystals needed to make the green laser, but the result is well-worth the manufacturing effort.
