Kaai Inc. (Goleta, CA), a supplier of green and blue laser diodes, has demonstrated green laser diodes at 523 nm, the longest continuous-wave green laser diode emission reported to date. Based on indium gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology, the company's lasers are fabricated on nonpolar and semipolar substrates. Direct diode green lasers offer a dramatic improvement in size, weight, and cost over conventional gas or solid-state lasers, according to the company, and they enable a variety of applications in a range of areas, including biomedical instrumentation and therapeutics.Longer-wavelength lasers that operate only in pulsed mode have been reported previously, such as a 531-nm laser fabricated on semipolar GaN substrates fabricated by Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) in Japan. Until now, the longest-wavelength laser operating in continuous-wave mode, also fabricated by SEI, emitted at 520 nm.Operating a laser diode fabrication facility in Santa Barbara, CA, Kaai was founded in 2008 by GaN-based laser pioneers Shuji Nakamura, Steven Denbaars, and James Speck of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Richard Craig is the company's CEO.