406nm Diodes by Sharp - nice price!

[Ragnarok]

Found this press release from a year ago:

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=194500229

Evidently there is a higher demand for blue-violet diodes than can be supplied, so Sharp is manufacturing them too.

Snip:

"The Sharp diode emits at 406 nanometers with 20-milliwatt maximum power out for read-only applications, such as for Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD players. The diode achieves a 10,000-hour lifetime with continuous-wave operation at 5-mW power output. Power consumption is 168 mW."

This was the part that really made me smile!

Samples are available for about $85 apiece."

Getting cheaper all the time... who knows, maybe we'll be able to do a group buy on these in the future!

 

[pseudonomen137]

I think WL gets the diodes out of HD DVD or Blu-Ray players, and even though I still don't think that ends up costing anywhere near $2k, I'd guess they pay more than $85 apiece. I'm pretty upset though that they don't mention which lasers are CW or quasi-CW on the site.

 

[Ragnarok]

I have a hard time understanding why in the world they would buy and strip players for the 405nm diodes, when these Sharp diodes have been available at this price (remember, this is a SAMPLE price - I'm sure they're cheaper in any volume) - for just over a year now?

The Nichia diodes are hundreds or thousands of dollars for samples; I guess they don't want to be bothered by anyone who isn't a megabuck manufacturer.

 

[SenKat]

This was the part that really made me smile!

Samples are available for about $85 apiece."
Getting cheaper all the time... who knows, maybe we'll be able to do a group buy on these in the future!  

All right - research, man - I want one NOW ! Find out where to get these bad boys ???

 

[timelord]

Count me in too

 

[Ragnarok]

I'm looking... this press release has a part number, but I cannot find a distributor, it will probably require contacting Sharp directly. That should be fun.

Evidently these things started shipping en masse just last November.

http://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/NOV_06/SHAR_241106.htm

Snip:

"24 November 2006

Sharp enters blue laser production

Earlier this month Tokyo-based Sharp Corp began supplying blue-violet laser diodes (emitting at a wavelength of 406nm) from its laser fab in Mihara, Hiroshima, becoming only the third volume manufacturer so far.
Previously, volume supply has been limited to MOCVD-grown blue-violet laser diodes from Japan’s Nichia Corp (estimated at several hundred thousands units per month) and Sony Corp, under a cross-licensing deal with Nichia. However, Sony is currently devoting capacity to Sony Computer Entertainment Inc’s new Playstation 3 (launched in the USA a week or so ago), planning to ship 1m units into both Japan and the USA by end-2006, before launching the PS3 in Europe next spring. This has contributed to the ongoing shortage of lasers required for the next-generation DVD player formats HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disc (the format used for PS3), with Sony having postponed its Blu-ray Disc player’s July US launch indefinitely."

"Now, Sharp says its new production GH04020A2GE blue-violet laser (which has a small diameter of 5.6mm for easy implementation in Blu-Ray Disc and players) has a maximum optical output of 20mW for read-only applications. When set to 10mW at room temperature, it ensures what Sharp claims is the industry's smallest power consumption and longest lifetime simultaneously (168mW and over 10,000 hours, respectively).

The first samples cost 10,000 yen ($85). Sharp has a start-up capacity of 150,000 units a month, but says it is ready to expand capacity depending on demand.

* Sharp says it is also developing a high-power, pulsed-wave blue laser that will output 130-210mW."

Edit: (Link removed as it was a Sharp site, but not relevant to the topic.)

 

[pseudonomen137]

I have a hard time understanding why in the world they would buy and strip players for the 405nm diodes, when these Sharp diodes have been available at this price (remember, this is a SAMPLE price - I'm sure they're cheaper in any volume) - for just over a year now?  

The Nichia diodes are hundreds or thousands of dollars for samples; I guess they don't want to be bothered by anyone who isn't a megabuck manufacturer.

Well, in the grand scheme of things I think WL is just a miniscule company and considering they started off modding leadlights... I dunno, I just don't think they have the pull to get such a limited quantity supplied at a decent price. They can probably get the burners for a good price over there in China though.

Its such a low demand item anyways though, I can see why they would charge a lot. For all the work put into producing them, I doubt they've sold much more than 10, if even that, and even if they costed $1k I don't think many more would have bought, so IMO its a good business strategy to just gouge as much as possible. Not that it helps us out at all, but they are, after all, a company out to make profit, just like any other company.

 

[SenKat]

Well said, psuedo...They ARE in the market to make money - but I wanna build my own ! ;D

 

[Ragnarok]

Let's see, if I was a small manufacturer, rather than trying to build them myself from the ground up, I'd probably call whoever makes Leadlights, and specify/have them quote a batch of pointers with the 406nm diodes instead of red ones, seeing as they are the same size. It would take a different driver, but I am sure that would not be much of a hindrance for them. The markup would have to be high to make it worth the time and trouble (stocking, shipping, RMA's, etc.) and keep food on the table, so they would still be expensive, because of the smaller demand as pseudonomen137 pointed out - but surely not in the kilobuck range like Wicked's Sonar. But I could be wrong. :-?