The international conference on II–VI compounds & devices

AbstractAn atmosphere of anticipation resided at the opening session of this, the seventh international II–VI conference. Over the past two years since the last meeting at Newport, Rhode Island, the onlyheadline news in the II–VI community was the slow but a relentless increase in the lifetimes of blue emitting laser diodes. Delegates attending the device sessions expected something spectacular, since all the major players, Sony, Phillips, 3M and Brown-Purdue had something to say. From very early on in the conference the message was clear; there are no shortcuts in the development of these devices. The problems hinted at four years ago, and highlighted two years ago, are still with us, the community just has a greater insight into them now. Overall, however, the underlying feel of this meeting was of diversification and expansion of the range of research undertaken in the II–VI field, along with a more concentrated effort on the problems specific to lasers and LEDs