We propose to develop a low-cost, miniature blue laser module emitting between 460 nm and 490 nm for applications in fluorescence imaging systems. Currently this 460-490 nm spectral range is mainly covered by gas lasers, in particular the Argon-ion lasers. Although gas lasers have been well-established for many years, they posses several well-known disadvantages such as limited lifetime of their laser tubes, low overall efficiency, excessive air cooling, and rather high noise in the output power. The present innovative design of a compact blue laser module is aimed to replace these bulky and expensive air-cooled Argon-ion lasers that are currently used in most biomedical instruments. The proposed compact, high up-conversion, hybrid solid-state blue laser will be based on intra-cavity direct frequency doubling, a.k.a., Second Harmonic Generation (SHG), of near-infrared Ill-V semiconductor diode lasers. Phase I will demonstrate a bread-board prototype that has high up-conversion efficiency, high efficiency in heat management, low noise, and high stability. These miniature laser modules will fundamentally revolutionize the development of fluorescence imaging instruments in biomedical applications, making it possible to device compact, versatile and high-performance DNA chip and protein chip scanners, flow cytometers, micro-titer plate readers, and confocal microscopes.
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