Japan laser applications

A new chapter in the uses of semiconductors arrived with a theoretical paper by two physicists working at IBM s research laboratory in New York State, L. Esaki (a Japanese immigrant who has since returned to Japan) and R. Tsu (Esaki and Tsu 1970). They predicted that in a fine multilayer structure of two distinct semiconductors (or of a semiconductor and an insulator) tunnelling between quantum wells becomes important and a superlattice with minibands and mini (energy) gaps is formed. Three years later, Esaki and Tsu proved their concept experimentally. Another name used for such a superlattice is confined heterostructure . This concept was to prove so fruitful in the emerging field of optoelectronics (the merging of optics with electronics) that a Nobel Prize followed in due course. The central application of these superlattices eventually turned out to be a tunable laser. 

Optoelectronic devices are found in numerous consumer products such as television, compact-disk players, laser communications, laser printers, radar detectors, cellular telephones, direct-broad-cast television, and many others. Many of these applications were developed in Japan and that country is still prominent in the field. 

The application of electrospray ionization (ESI) to macromolecules was first described by Yamashita and Fenn in 1984, and he later applied this technique to the study of proteins in 1988. In ESI, charged droplets of protein were produced and the solvent was stripped away, leaving only the free protein ion. In 1987, Tanaka demonstrated that laser pnlses from a low-energy nitrogen laser could be used to ionize proteins from a surface. As described in a paper presented during the Second Japan-China Joint Symposium on Mass Spectrometry, proteins are desorbed from a glycerol matrix containing cobalt powder. The cobalt powder was necessary to increase absorption of the laser photons. ... 

Non-destructive adhesion testing of plasma-sprayed coatings using ultrasounds and laser shocks, in Thermal Spray 2004 Advances in Technology and Applications, Proceeding of the ITSC, Osaka, Japan, May 10-12, 2004 (eds C.C. Berndt, K.A. Khor, and E. Lugscheider) ASM International. 

In 2005 CDT established a Joint Venture company, Sumation, with the Japanese Sumitomo company. Sumation, which started trading in mid-November 2005, supplies polymers and formulated inks for use in both development and commercial P-OLED display and lighting applications. It has a Tokyo HQ with research and development teams in both Japan and the UK. Production of polyflnorene and other polymer materials has been subcontracted to Sumitomo Chemical s Osaka plant. Earlier in 2005 Sumitomo had acquired the Lumation business, which was operating in the same sector, from the Dow Chemical Company. Sumitomo Chemical s parmership with Seiko Epson has resnlted in the first super bright OLED-based print head which, when used in printers, is capable of delivering results equal to or superior in quality to those from a laser printer. 

SSP. The SSP technology was developed by Ibiden of Japan. It used standard FR-4, copper plating, and laser drilling. The additional step is the application of a thin adhesive to each finished single-sided, pump-plated core. The process sequence is as follows ... 

Toyoda, M., Laser Diffraction Particle Size Distribution Measurement Instrument Coulter LS and Its Application to Pigment Particles, The Industrial Coating (Japan), 1998, 151, 30-34. 

---