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7 May 2007

Nichia to start mass producing 250mW blue-violet laser next January

In a seminar at Laser Expo 2007 in Yokohama, Japan (25-27 April), Nichia Corp announced product plans for blue-violet laser for next-generation DVD drives (Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD), high-power blue lasers for light sources in image display equipment, and a white light source using a blue laser, according to the publication Nikkei Electronics.

Nichia currently mass produces a model of its blue-violet laser with an output power of 130mW operating in pulsed mode for next-generation DVD recorder/players (and, since April, a model capable of 20mW output in continuous-wave mode, focusing on low-cost manufacturing for replay-only equipment). It has also previously sampled a 180mW pulsed-mode model. The firm now says it will start mass producing and shipping a 180mW pulsed-mode model in June, followed by a 250mW model in January 2008. Next-generation DVD equipment can generally record on a dual-layer disc at 4x-6x speed using a blue-violet laser emitting about 200mW and 8x speed emitting about 240mW, operated in pulsed mode. Nichia also plans to mass produce a 320mW model for 10x speed recording in first-half 2008.

Regarding high-power blue lasers for use as a light source in image display devices (including rear projectors), in the seminar Nichia detailed a blue laser model that outputs 500mW in continuous-wave mode at an emission wavelength of 445nm. The drive current and voltage are 480mA and 4.8V, respectively, and the life-time exceeds 30,000 hours. In general, a life-time of 10,000 hours is required for display light sources, says Nichia. The firm says it has achieved a threshold current density of 1.8kA/cm2 by improving the laser structure and optimizing the growth conditions. Nichia aims to increase the emission wavelength to 460nm. It also aims to realize light output of over 1W by developing a dedicated package with higher heat dissipation. (For blue-violet lasers for next-generation DVD, Nichia currently uses a multi-purpose can package in an attempt to lower costs.)

Also at the seminar, Nichia presented a light source that uses a phosphor coated on the end surface of an optical fiber to convert the wavelength of the light transmitted by the fiber from a blue laser to obtain pseudo white light. Key target applications are light sources for displays and headlamps. In third-quarter 2007 Nichia plans to start sample shipments of a model that achieves a luminance of 85cd/mm 2 with a beam flux of 96lm at a drive current of 500mA.

See related items:

Sony boosts blue-violet laser capacity to 1.7 million per month

Sharp to start volume production of 210mW blue-violet lasers for 6x recording on dual-layer Blu-ray and HD-DVDs

Nichia achieves 320mW pulsed operation of blue-violet laser diode

Visit Nichia: http://www.nichia.com

See:

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp