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| TOKYO - January 21, 2003. According to EE Times, Sanyo
Electric Co. Ltd. will begin production this spring of a 35-milliwatt
blue-violet laser for next-generation recordable optical disc systems. Sanyo
plans to invest about $85 million to develop various blue-violet lasers.
Sanyo has forecasted annual sales of around $125 million by 2005.
"The introduction of the high-power 35-mW laser will advance the next-generation DVD greatly," said Sanyo president Yukinori Kuwano. Sanyo expects the first samples of the 35-mW laser in May, priced at nearly $1,700 apiece. Sanyo's 35-mW laser is one of the highest-power blue-violet lasers announced so far. Last December, Nichia Corp. and Sony Corp. announced that they would cooperate to develop a 100-mW laser for use in Blu-ray Disc systems. Sanyo will build its blue-violet laser on a gallium nitride (GaN) substrate rather than a sapphire substrate, which Nichia is using. Sanyo uses an ion implantation method that contributes to the precise control of the laser's emission, resulting in a low-noise, low-current laser, required for optical disc systems. Sanyo's laser diode has a wavelength of 405 nanometers, a threshold current of 40 milliamperes and operating current of 75 milliamperes. The structure is different from Nichia's sapphire-based lasers, which Sanyo could not make without infringing Nichia patents. Sanyo announced a 5-mW blue-violet laser that uses the same structure last March, and is now delivering samples of that part. This lower power laser is suitable for high density optical disc players, but not in recorders. Expecting higher demand for blue-violet lasers, other manufacturers are also preparing for volume production. In addition to the Nichia/Sony partnership, Sharp Corp. will begin production of blue-violet lasers by the end of this year at a new fabrication facility. Rohm Co. Ltd. is developing a silicon carbide laser with Cree Inc. |
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