Good bye Blu Ray, hello Violet Ray in PS4? Japanese researchers from Sony Corporation and Tohoku University announced on July 20th the development of a next-generation blue-violet ultrafast pulsed semiconductor laser with 100 watt output aimed at practical technology like disk storage. Practical blue-violet laser developed Beam emitted by the blue-violet ultrafast pulsed semiconductor laser. (Arrow indicates the semiconductor optical amplifier) Super Geek talk below This latest successful development is an all-semiconductor laser picosecond pulse source with a laser wavelength of 405 nanometers (1 nm = one-billionth of a meter) in the blue-violet region. It is capable of generating optical pulses in the ultrafast duration of 3 picoseconds (1 picosecond = one-trillionth of a second), with ultrahigh output peak power of 100 watts and repetition frequency of 1 gigahertz. Advanced control of the newly-developed and proprietarily-constructed GaN-based mode-locked semiconductor laser*3 and semiconductor optical amplifier*4 have enabled peak output power in excess of 100 watts to be achieved, which is more than a hundred times the world’s highest output value for conventional blue-violet pulse semiconductor lasers. Although there have been ultra high-output laser devices combining solid-state lasers*5 and a second harmonic generation unit for high functionality and high-value leading-edge chemical research applications in the past, the light source box itself was bulky and a specialist technician was required to ensure the stable operation of the laser. There are high expectations that this newly-developed semiconductor laser system, which incorporates semiconductor diodes, can have a much wider range of future applications. For instance, this technology enables the size of components such as the light source box to be drastically reduced. This newly-developed ultra high-output, ultrafast pulsed semiconductor laser light source is capable of using a nonlinear optical process known as two-photon absorption*6, which occurs only as a result of high intensity optical pulses. When light from the laser beam is concentrated on the lens, it creates chemical and thermal changes in the vicinity of the lens focus spot which is narrower than even the diameter of the focus spot of the lens itself. It is anticipated that application of these properties will be possible in a wide range of fields such as three-dimensional (3D) nano-fabrication of inorganic/organic materials in the order of nanometers, and next-generation large-capacity optical disc storage. Sony tested the principles for applying this technology in next-generation large-capacity optical disc-storage by creating void marks with a diameter of approximately 300 nanometers at intervals of 3 micrometers on the interior of plastic material, and successfully read these marks with the laser beam. In a press release, Tohoku University and Sony stated: Quote: “This latest successful development is an all-semiconductor laser picosecond pulse source with a laser wavelength of 405 nanometers (1 nm = one-billionth of a meter) in the blue-violet region. It is capable of generating optical pulses in the ultrafast duration of 3 picoseconds (1 picosecond = one-trillionth of a second), with ultrahigh output peak power of 100 watts and repetition frequency of 1 gigahertz. Advanced control of the newly-developed and proprietarily-constructed GaN-based mode-locked semiconductor laser and semiconductor optical amplifier have enabled peak output power in excess of 100 watts to be achieved, which is more than a hundred times the world’s highest output value for conventional blue-violet pulse semiconductor lasers.” Moreover, the two institutions noted that their system eliminated the need for a “bulky” light source and “specialist technician” to run previous lasers with similar qualities. They wrote, “There are high expectations that this newly-developed semiconductor laser system, which incorporates semiconductor diodes, will be able to be used in a much wider range of applications in the future thanks to technology such as this, which enables the size of devices such as the light source box to be drastically reduced.” Blue-Violet laser as the next DVD/Blu-ray In particular, Sony indicated they are aiming to use the laser in next-generation disk storage devices, having already achieved successful initial testing. Japanese news reports added quantified values to laser announcement. The Yomiuri wrote that new laser is expected to allow for disks to hold 20 times the capacity of the Blu-ray. The newspaper conjectured that if Blu-rays can hold a little over two movies worth of high-quality film, the blue-violet would be able to handle more than 50 titles. Others likened that capacity to not only easily fitting all of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars on one disk, but entire seasons of anime or TV shows like 24.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 18:47:58 +0000
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