Sharp develops new semiconductor laser, could enable larger capacity Blu-ray Discs

Although flash-based storage solutions are increasingly popular choice for all computer users personal data to be stored in a digital format, optical storage media solutions are still quite strong reality. Optical disc drives is still an important function in ordinary desktop and laptop computers, Blu-ray player with an ever-present possibility of new personal systems. For this reason, the Sharp Corporation recently announced a blue-violet semiconductor laser that sport has an optical output of 500mW developed under pulsed operation for use in Blu-ray Disc (BD) burner.

According to a news report on Nikkei's Tech-On the website of the laser has a wavelength of 405nm and vibration can write at a speed of 8x for triple-and quadruple-layer Blu-ray discs. This essentially means that it could, with today's technology, where a single layer of the disc can be equipped with 25 GB of storage, laser Sharp see 75GB or 100GB recordable discs. These discs can be used both for storage of personal data, but also for marketing 1080P movies, which are often limited by their size or built-in, special functions.

The company started the reported volume of production of a blue-violet semiconductor laser with a pulsed output 320mW in June this year. Since the new 500mW blue-violet semiconductor laser, the company has no future plans to start mass production, because of the lack of specifications for three or more layer Blu-ray discs. Yet, Sharp claims that it currently has an opportunity to commercialize the laser.

The reliability of this new, blue-violet semiconductor laser is already clear from Sharp, which has confirmed that the laser works on more than 1,000 hours in temperatures of 80 degrees Celsius, with a pulse width of 30Nm and an output of 500mW. The announcement was made at the 70th Autumn Meeting of Japan Society of Applied Physics, to be held September 8 to 11, 2009, in Toyama Prefecture, Japan, Tech-On reports.