14 DAY TRIAL // Sharp has just announced its plans to ramp up volume shipments of its newest High-Power Blue-Violet Laser Diode for Blu-Ray recorders. The laser diode is unique in its series, as it can provide enough power to burn dual layer Blu-ray Discs at 6x speeds.
The company will start mass-manufacturing the two diodes in early April. The GH04P25A4G model is built using a proprietary facet structure and is surprisingly miniaturized. Its small sizes (3.3 millimeter diameter) makes it perfect for powering notebook Blu-Ray burners. The next model, the GH04P25A2G is a little bigger and features a diameter of 5.6 millimeters. It is especially targeted at desktop Blu-ray Drives.
Both models of Blue-Violet Laser Diode can deliver a power output of 250 milliwatts, which allows the device to record dual-layer Blu-ray Discs (BD) at an amazing speed of 6x. According to Sharp, the diodes have been thoroughly optimized in terms of power consumption. Space has also been optimized, so the 3.3 millimeter diameter package was achieved by suppressing the package's heatspreader.
The company has already started sampling the High-Power Blue-Violet Laser Diodes. Sampling packages can be achieved for as much as 50,000 yens no matter the selected laser diode size.
The manufacturer has been one of the greatest players in the laser diode industry, even since the introduction of the CD-ROM drive, back in 1982. Its achievements include significant proprietary technology, that helped Sharp to engineer and manufacture the high-power blue-violet laser diodes, a central piece in the development of the future generation of optical media recorders. When the diodes get ready for mass-manufacturing, the company plans to deliver 700,000 units per month.
Moreover, the Japanese manufacturer seems to be working on a new type of laser-emitting diode that will improve the dual-layer recording speed of next-generation optical media. According to company representatives, the next model will deliver a total power of 350mW and will allow dual-layer BD media to be burnt at 8-12X recording speeds.