TOKYO -- Toshiba Corp. said Monday it will soon start commercial production of a new semiconductor laser device which can be used for office- and factory-automation equipment.
The major Japanese electronics company said the new device can produce bright red light and is expected to replace conventional helium-neon gas and infrared semiconductor lasers currently used in the bar code readers of point-of-sales systems at shops, supermarkets and department stores.
The laser requires only 85 milliamperes for continuous wave emitting operation and its life is estimated at more than 10,000 hours - long enough for practical applications, the company said.
The new device can continuously emit a visible laser beam at room temperature at a wave length of 670 nanometers, the shortest wave length ever achieved for semiconductor lasers, Toshiba said.
One nanometer equals a billionth of a meter.
The company said it will start producing the device in April at a monthly rate of 2,000 units, and volume will be increased to 10,000 units toward the end of this year.
Samples are available at $300 per unit.
