Millstone River Photonickers
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Millstone River Photonickers is an informal affinity association of those individuals associated with the development of semiconductor diode laser technology at RCA Laboratories and its successor organization Sarnoff Corporation, as well as companies and government or university groups which have grown out of the RCA Laboratories' optoelectronics tradition.
RCA Laboratories, located on ca. 300 acres along the Millstone River in Princeton, NJ, is one of several organizations that, in 1962, simultaneously performed the historic demonstration of near-100% internal quantum efficiency in the conversion of electron-hole pairs to photons. The others were Texas Instruments, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, General Electric, and IBM.
RCA Laboratories was the organization to develop liquid phase epitaxy, the dominant form of epitaxial crystal growth enabling the development of high performance diode lasers in early years. (It has now been supplanted by molecular beam epitaxy and metallorganic chemical vapor phase deposition.)
RCA Laboratories demonstrated the very first gallium nitride based blue LEDs in the early 1970s. These were the forerunners of solid-state lighting which is poised to revolutionize lighting efficiency world wide in the next decade.
RCA Laboratories and successor organization Sarnoff Corporation today makes a unique claim as the longest-continuously operating industry R&D facility in the field of diode laser science and technology. It has specialized in government-sponsored R&D, including flying the first laser in space onboard a NASA Gemini flight in 1967.
[edit] Other Individual Affiliations
Along with the enviable history of RCA Laboratories and Sarnoff Corporation in semiconductor diode lasers, numerous spin-off and daughter companies have been founded by Sarnoff personnel.
Optoelectronics companies founded by, or with key staff being among, RCA Laboratories/Sarnoff Corporation's optoelectronics personnel include the following: Alfalight, Arradiance, Bridgelux, Epitaxx, Innovative Photonic Solutions, Laser Diode Inc., Lytel, Medeikon, Nanogen, Nanotrope, PD-LD, Photodigm, Princeton Lightwave Inc., Princeton Optronics, Sensors Unlimited Inc., and Trumpf Photonics. Several of these organizations have since been incorporated as part of larger companies. Industries served include medical, telecommunications, night vision, manufacturing, displays, and solid state lighting.
Some organizations which employ or are led by Millstone River Photonickers are Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Motorola, AmberWave, Lumileds, Applied Materials, Hewlett-Packard, Judson Infrared, Newport, Applied Optoelectronics, IRE-Polus Group (IPG), U.S. Army Night Vision Laboratory, University of Colorado, Carnegie Mellon University, Rider University, Ohio University, Northwestern University, Southern Methodist University, Drexel University, Pranalytica, Suzmar, Warburg Pincus, and GHO Ventures.
