USHIO-OPTOSEMI.COM – Ushio Opto Semiconductors, Inc. (Head Office: Tokyo, Managing Executive Officer: Hiroaki Banno), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ushio, Inc., will release a 659 nm red laser diode (LD) (HL65213HD) for biomedical use in October 2019, which achieved the world’s highest CW optical output power of 1.2 W*1 in its class.
Demand for high output power laser diodes in the 660 nm wavelength range, including 659 nm, is growing in the medical field, such as DNA sequencing and phototherapy, and in the life science field, such as laser microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, since they can cause a photochemical reaction with materials (e.g., melanin and hemoglobin) with absorption in that wavelength range with high efficiency and in a short time.
These applications require watt-level output power, but the output power of the LDs in this wavelength range is usually at the milliwatt (mW) level. Therefore, to achieve the watt-level output power, multiple LDs are currently used as modules in a single system by connecting them with optical fibers. Its downside is to make the systems larger and more expensive.
To address this problem, Ushio Opto Semiconductors successfully commercialized a highly reliable multi-mode LD*2, which achieved a CW optical output power of 1.2 W in the 659 nm wavelength range, which was accomplished by combining the crystal growth technology accumulated through the development and commercialization of LDs for use in sensors in the 660 nm wavelength range and the watt-level high output power LD process and packaging technology cultivated in the 640 nm wavelength range.
The new product is expected to be adopted in various fields, since it helps reduce the size of various systems.
*1 The world’s highest optical output power from a single CAN package (as of September 2019 according to Ushio Opto Semiconductors’ research data)
*2 LD that has multiple oscillation modes in a waveguide, which is ideal for increasing output power.
