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Red laser diodes set new records
Opnext was making bold claims for its new red laser diodes, which boast a power output of 90 mW at 640 nm. When I visited their booth, Opnext’s director for business development, Fuyuhiko Murofushi, said that he believed the new products offered the highest power of any red laser diode on the market today. What’s more, he said, the low operating current of the device means that power consumption can be reduced while still achieving high optical powers.
Murofushi declined to give details of the new design, but said that Opnext's technology has made it possible to increase the power level without increasing the length of the laser cavity. Applications for the laser include next-generation displays, industrial and medical sensor light sources, and measurement equipment.
Murofushi also updated me on the progress the company is making with blue and green laser diodes. In the second half of this year we can expect to see Opnext launch blue laser diodes with power outputs of around 50 mW. Devices producing these power levels have been produced, he says, but problems still remain with long-term reliability.
Green is more challenging, although Opnext — which was spun out from Hitachi in 2000 — still has access to technologies developed at the Japanese company's renowned Central Research Laboratories. According to Murofushi, researchers are currently investigated different materials that could form the basis of green laser diodes, and he hope to see products emerge within the next 2 to 3 years.
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