A 1971 diode laser ad shows a design that looks unchanged 55 years later
jwt0625 · x · 2026-10-28
jwt0625 shares an illustration from a 1971 Scientific American article on diode lasers (a double-heterostructure stripe-geometry laser), musing that laser folks evolved rapidly while passive photonics folks kept rehashing the same ideas with new materials — yet 55 years later the laser design in the ad looks essentially identical. "At the end of the day, you are just shoving photons and electrons."
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