Optical components, modules and subsystems developer Oclaro Inc of San Jose, CA, USA has announced advances in its red laser diodes that has enabled it to reduce the size of 4-beam red laser diodes by 75% (from TO9.0mm to TO5.6mm) and 8-beam red laser diodes by 80% (from TO16.0 to TO9.0mm).
The firm reckons that the size reductions will enable customers designing laser beam printers (LBPs) and multi-function printers (MFPs) to design smaller and more compact printers or to utilize the extra space for adding more features and functionality. In addition, Oclaro has improved the printing quality of its red laser diodes by modifying their structure to produce what is claimed to be the smallest and most precise laser beam available from any red laser diode in the industry.
“Customers designing LBP and MFP applications are under increasing pressure to improve printing quality and deliver light-weight products to customers,” says Tadayuki Kanno, president, Oclaro Japan Inc & general manager, Modules & Devices business unit.
Oclaro claims that so far no other firm has achieved such size reductions or has been able to deliver this level of laser beam precision (i.e. low droop and small deviation). As a result, customers can now offer improved printing quality while at the same time providing more lightweight and compact designs, it is reckoned.
Oclaro says that key features making the red beam laser diodes suited to designing MFPs and LPBs include:
narrow beam pitch (enabling the optics design of a printing system to be simplified); high thermal radiation design for high-temperature operation (enabling high printing quality); high-accuracy mounting for junction-down die bonding for low droop (also improving the printing quality of the printing system); and tuning laser diode characteristics via a new structure to meet each customer’s requirement to optimize their printing system.
Oclaro is showcasing the 4- and 8-beam red laser diodes in booth 1101 at the Photonics West 2013 conference (5-7 February) in San Francisco.
