International Symposium on Blue Lasers & LEDs

This was the third time that the II-VI and III-V blue emitting device communities had been brought together in one meeting (following meetings in California and Trieste). The aim was to provide a forum bringing together experts from both research fields in an attempt to solve common problems which block the realization of commercially available blue LD's. With the announcement of the first GaN-based blue LD in January 96, and Sony's 100 hr laser ZnMgSSe blue LD shortly after, the timing for this Symposium could not have been better. This was reflected by the fact that it was over-subscribed by nearly 100%, a modest meeting planned for about 200 turned into a major conference for nearly 500 in the last few weeks of planning.