Technical Insight
Sanyo creates a thin laser for DVD players (News from Japan)
Sanyo Electric has developed a thin semiconductor laser for use in compact, lightweight DVD players and DVD-ROM drives. Compared to CD lasers, the optical sources used in DVD players require a higher operating current, which also creates more heat, so manufacturers must make the laser semiconductors in cylindrical form to maximize heat dissipation. Sanyo s new unit produces light more efficiently, lowering the operating current, and it also has superior heat-radiating properties, eliminating the need for a cylindrical form. The new laser is 2.4 mm thick and weighs just 0.2 g (less than half the size and weight of cylindrical lasers). A Sanyo affiliate, which produces 800 000 cylindrical DVD lasers a month, will begin shifting production to thin lasers at year-end. By next spring, it plans to end production of cylindrical lasers and boost output of thin lasers to 1.52 million units per month.
