Uptake of the new 1.2 W red lasers is expected in life science fields, such as skin treatment and photo-immunotherapy

Oude Meer, the Netherlands (January 2022) – Ushio Inc. (Head Office: Tokyo, President & CEO: Koji Naito, subsequently referred to as "Ushio") is pleased to announce that it has commenced sample shipments of its new HL67203HD and HL69203HD multi-mode laser diodes (LDs). The LDs present improvements to output power (1.2 W) and efficiency (40% and 41%, respectively) over the conventional 675 nm and 690 nm red laser light sources commonly used in medical, healthcare, and life science fields.

The new red laser diodes, designed by Ushio’s engineers in Japan, can carry out highly efficient and short-lived photochemical reactions with substances and reagents, found in the human body, which absorb light in the 670–690 nm wavelength range. These absorption characteristics present red LDs as an ideal component in many medical and health applications, such as photodynamic therapy for cancer treatment, as well as acne or blemish treatment.

Furthermore, HL67203HD and HL69203HD have promise in practical life science analytics, such as Raman spectroscopy and confocal microscopy. In particular, high-power, high-efficiency, 690 nm red LDs coupled with fibre have seen an increased interest from the field of photo-immunotherapy, which has been attracting attention in recent years as a "fifth cancer treatment".

Ushio has been offering the HL67001DG (675 nm, 200 mW single-mode LD) and HL69001DG (690 nm, 200 mW single-mode LD) to these markets; however, to meet their evolving demands, Ushio’s solid state lighting (SSL) division set to work expanding the lasing wavelength range to the longer side. This was achieved by applying the same high-power, high-efficiency, and high-reliability technologies that were successfully developed for laser products in the 640 nm and 660 nm bands.

With the new HL67203HD and HL69203HD products, Ushio has signalled its intention to meet customers' needs in a wider range of applications, such as the realization of quality of life (QOL) in the life science field.