Sharp has introduced a new blue and violet semiconductor laser that has an optical output level as high was 500mW, which could help lead the way for 100GB BD-R discs one day.
A report published on Tech-On indicates the laser uses "an oscillation wavelength of 405nm and a capability of writing at 8x speed on triple- and quarduple-layer Blu-ray discs."
The company only started producing 320mW maximum output semiconductors in June 2009, with other companies expected to begin similar development.
TechOn provided the following explanation as to how Sharp's new technology works: "Sharp enhanced the optical output by using a new method of processing the edge face of a resonator. Normally, the edge face of a crystal in a semiconductor laser is protected by a dielectric film. This time, the company formed an aluminum oxynitride (AlON) film between the edge face of the semiconductor laser and the dielectric film by a sputtering method and realized an epitaxial growth where the growth axis of the laser's crystal corresponds to that of the AlON crystal."
Even though there has been more than 1,000 test hours of the new laser under higher levels of stress, it's unlikely to become commercialized until triple and quadruple-layer Blu-ray makes a public appearance.
It's unknown when Sharp plans to mass producing the laser, but the technology is becoming more stable.
It'll be great to see storage capacities reach 100GB, as there have been numerous breakthroughs over the past 12 months, and it's only a matter of time before it's available on the market.
