Advanced Imaging Pro Product Guide

Red Laser Diode

Mitsubishi Electric has completed the development of the ML520G51 high output red laser diode. The diode is capable of the world's highest optical output standard of 150mW at 640nm, and is for use in mobile projectors, laser show devices as well as in other applications in the industrial and medical environment.

Applications fields
Laser diodes are widely used in many applications such as optical communications and optical disc systems like DVD, however, they are also suitable for new applications like mobile projectors and laser shows. Mitsubishi Electric manufactures 660nm high power laser diodes, and has become a leading supplier of high-power red laser diodes for recordable DVD. Mitsubishi Electric now expanded its product portfolio for the high power red laser diode ML520G51 for use in displays based on technology from similar laser diodes. This red laser diode appears bright to the human eye, and it is capable of emitting the deep reds in the 640nm range. Furthermore, it offers an impressive maximum output power rate of 150mW, which is the world's highest output for a 5.6mm diameter TO-Can.

150mW CW High Output Power, highest recorded wall-plug Efficiency of 23% So far the wall-plug efficiency of previous 640nm band laser diodes was only up to 15%. By optimizing the structure and manufacturing process of the laser diode, Mitsubishi Electric designed the ML520G51 in a way that it is capable to operate at a world record wall-plug efficiency of 23%. Due to this high efficiency the ML520G51 offers one of the industry's highest output power ratings of 150mW CW (within the temperature range from -5°C to +45°C). The high wall plug efficiency of the ML520G51 will reduce device power consumption but it may also prolong the time of operation with one load of batteries in mobile devices. Due to its low thermal output power this laser diode is integrated in a small hermetically sealed 5.6mm diameter TO-Can package, reducing the size of mobile devices.
Due to its small emitter size of just 40'micro;m the Broad Area Laser Diode with a beam divergence (FWHM) of 7° (parallel) or, respectively, 40° (perpendicular) is excellently suited for highly efficient optical coupling into fiber cables.

Lasing at 640nm
The human eye detects red light to be brighter, even at the same optical power, as if it had a shorter wavelength. However, light at 620nm is not a true red but reddish orange. On the other hand the human eye is very sensitive to the color differences in red light. The deep red emitted by the ML520G51 at 640nm can express the subtleties of the red spectrum and is suitable for display applications.

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