Blue diode help is on the way! Hurry!

[Sankari]

Silicon wafers to solve blue laser supply problem?

Posted Nov 10th 2006 5:05PM by Richard Lawler
Filed under: Blu-ray, HD DVD, Players

Blue lasers. The little diode is at the heart of Blu-ray and HD DVD technology, and its scarcity is the reason you might be reading this while camping out for a PlayStation 3 right now. Shimei Semiconductor Co. thinks it's found an easier way to make them by growing the gallium nitride LEDs on a silicon wafer instead of the sapphire-based process used currently. The predicted lower cost and longer lifespan of the components sounds great ...too bad these aren't expected to be available until April of 2007. Still, those waiting for a dual-format player -- or maybe a European PS3 -- might have one of these blue lasers in their future.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/11/10/silicon-wafers-to-solve-blue-laser-supply-problem/

April 2007 is long time to go but atleast there should be some help coming up, anything that lowers the price of production is good to me! I seriously hope they get these blue diode problems fixed by european launch.

 

[Carl B]

The prices will be droppign rapidly going forward anyway as the existing suppliers iron out their yield problems. As that happens and as volume ramps, the price drops relative to where they are now will be very significant.

This technology is of course something that could improve the situation even more, but honestly I think we just have to wait for it to mature and roll-out before we can say for certain whether this will honestly constitute a majority of replication three years out from now.

 

[RobertR1]

There a press release like this week after week. If it actually materializes, that's great but I wouldn't put much hope in it.

 

[scooby_dooby]

So the current diodes suffer from a short lifespan?

 

[Npl]

So the current diodes suffer from a short lifespan?

They certainly have a shorter lifespan than diodes that have a longer lifespan.

 

[London Geezer]

They certainly have a shorter lifespan than diodes that have a longer lifespan.

... the diodes have a shorter lifespan than diodes with longer lifespan...

 

[scooby_dooby]

If the lifespan was already adequate there wouldn't be a need to create longer lasting diodes would there?

 

[London Geezer]

If the lifespan was already adequate there wouldn't be a need to create longer lasting diodes would there?

Why when you can just make it last long enough to go over the warranty period and get people to buy their PS3 again in 3 years time, when the hardware actually makes a profit?

 

[scooby_dooby]

Why when you can just make it last long enough to go over the warranty period and get people to buy their PS3 again in 3 years time, when the hardware actually makes a profit?

lol, exactly! No, it's just I've just always had concerns about the quality of these 1st wave of BD drives, and this doesn't really set my mind at ease.

 

[London Geezer]

lol, exactly! No, it's just I've just always had concerns about the quality of these 1st wave of BD drives, and this doesn't really set my mind at ease.

Heh hence me staying well clear of PS3 or anything emitting blue laser beams for a while!! you never know!

 

[Farid]

If the lifespan was already adequate there wouldn't be a need to create longer lasting diodes would there?

The longer lifespan of the blue diodes grown on silicon wafers is just a "natural" result of the process.
They didn't try to get longer lifespan out of it, they just tried to come up with a way to produce blue diodes on silicon wafers (easier to get by) and the longer lifespan of the units produced was just a positive chemical coincidence.

Right now, the blue diode production/reasearch is all about quantity, not quality (as in trying to produce more capable units than the existing ones).

 

[Shifty Geezer]

They didn't try to get longer lifespan out of it, they just tried to come up with a way to produce blue diodes on silicon wafers (easier to get by) and the longer lifespan of the units produced was just a positive chemical coincidence.

And when you're trying to sell your technology, you advertise all the benefits. "Longer diode lifespan" would make the sales blurb and press releases even if ordinary blue diodes are good for a hundred years. For CE goods the ordinary life may be okay, but for always-on applications longevity might be a plus.

From a quick Google, blue laser diodes are probably in the realm of 10,000 hours lifespan, which is apparently what red lasers last...

Second, the reliability and durability of blue lasers, at least when compared to red and infrared lasers, is a little shaky. The materials used to create lasers inevitably break down at some point. Although the material in red and infrared lasers, usually gallium aluminum, can last 10,000 hours or more, material in blue lasers, usually indium gallium nitride, typically lasts less than 1,000 hours. Researchers expect to iron out the problem with materials relatively soon, though. Cree claimed in February 2002 that it had created a blue laser with a 10,000-hour lifespan at room temperature. Cree also says its blue laser should be compatible with the Blu-ray Disc standard.

http://www.computerpoweruser.com/ed...=articles/archive/c0205/33c05/33c05.asp&guid=