Uniform NFP Characteristics
Super high power laser diodes are now being used in full-scale practical applications, and as a result, these individual applications are beginning to bring up their own requirements in addition to high optical output power. In addition to being used as the excitation light source for solid-state lasers, super high power laser diodes are also being used in a wide variety of manufacturing applications. The range of these manufacturing applications is increasing: in addition to welding, cutting, and soldering, these lasers are being used in application where a specific property of the material is modified. These applications include metal hardening, printing, erasing and initializing optical discs, joining plastics, and laser plating. The uniform NFP characteristic discussed here is required by almost all of these applications. Sony has already established and refined unique uniform NFP technologies, and has now combined these technologies with their earlier high output technologies to release a product that combines all three elements needed by these applications: high power, high optical density, and uniform NFP characteristics. Sony has already started the next development in this area, knowing that even more progress must be made on improving NFP characteristics. Keep your eye on Sony's super high power laser diodes.

Uniform NFP and High Optical Density
The image created when a laser diode beam is focused by an optical system basically reflects the form of the NFP. Our product features the highest level of uniform NFP as a 4 W laser diode. Furthermore, it achieves a 4 W output power while providing its output in a 200 µm beam width, thus achieving the highest performance in a device of this class. Sony has achieved a super high power laser diode that can irradiate the highest optical energy (optical power output) most uniformly, when converged by the optical system because of the combination of these two characteristics.

Low Operating Current
The index guide structure was adopted so that control of current injection to the optical emission area and control of the optical emission area itself are performed efficiently. This reduces the reactive current and achieves a low operating current.