The 16th Industry Award of The Laser Society of Japan for fiscal year 2024
The 16th Laser Society of Japan Industry Award for 2023 has been decided.
Overview of The Laser Society of Japan Industry Award
The Laser Society of Japan awards The Industry Award to the supporting members of the Society for their excellent achievements in contributing to the development of the domestic laser-related industry in the practical application and the dissemination of laser-related products and technologies.
“Laser Industry Award for Excellent Product” will be given to the technology and market performance of laser-related industrial technology. “Laser Industry Encouragement Award” will be given to the market development and future potential, and “Laser Industry Contribution Award” will be given to the excellent basic technology or long-term cumulative contribution. In addition, ” Laser Industry Selection Committee Special Award” will be given to the case the committee expects notably high contributions to the laser industry, however, which doesn’t meet the above three awards conditions.
The quality of the application contents was highly competitive overall this time, but we finally selected 7 cases.
I． Laser Industry Award for Excellent Product
“Wider-temperature-range CWDM 100Gbps (53Gbaud PAM4) EML chip”
MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORPORATION
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation has achieved an operating speed of 100 Gbps over a wide temperature range of 5 to 85 degrees Celsius of EML (Electro-absorption Modulated Laser) by using a unique hybrid waveguide structure consisting of different waveguide structures in a laser section and a modulator section and optimizing these design parameters. This innovative product eliminates the need for a chip cooling mechanism and reduces the power consumption of optical transceivers. It is an essential technology for the future development of AI-related industries, and it is also compatible with the increase in power consumption due to the rise in communication data capacity, so further growth is expected. It was also highly praised for its significant sales record. Therefore, Laser Industry Award for Excellent Product will be awarded.
“High-brightness, High-efficiency Laser-Driven Light Source (LDLS®)”
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. and Energetiq Technology, Inc.
Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. and Energetiq Technology, Inc. have generated compact, high-brightness plasma with a broad spectrum from vacuum ultraviolet to infrared using its unique laser-driven light source technology. This method has the advantage that the discharge between the electrodes is only required for ignition, compared to the conventional arc lamp method that uses the discharge between the electrodes. After plasma generation, it is possible to maintain the plasma only with a focused continuous wave laser, making it an excellent product that provides broadband light with high radiance, excellent spatial stability, and extremely long device life. Additionally, many units are already being used in semiconductor manufacturing, and we expect further development. Therefore, Laser Industry Award for Excellent Product will be awarded.
“Application of laser processing technology to automotive electrical components”
DENSO CORPORATION
DENSO CORPORATION was one of the first in the automobile industry to introduce spot welding using YAG lasers into its manufacturing process in 1973. Since then, the company has applied laser processing technology to various automotive electrical components such as bodies, engines, and transmission parts. The company has installed many laser processing equipment, and they operate worldwide. It was highly praised for its track record of consistently incorporating the latest laser processing technology to improve the performance of automobile parts. It was also noteworthy that the company not only develops its industrial equipment and introduces it to the field but also continues to develop laser application technology. In addition, the company sufficiently demonstrates the features and usefulness of laser processing equipment and is expected to contribute to achieving the SDGs. Therefore, Laser Industry Award for Excellent Product will be awarded.
II． Laser Industry Encouragement Award
“Fiber Laser Machine “LC-VALSTER-AJ” Series”
AMADA CO., LTD.
AMADA Co. Ltd. has developed a unique pallet-type fiber laser processing system that can be set up externally to address issues such as danger in steel processing. This development allows the loading of materials, product unloading, printing/marking using an inkjet printer, etc., to be performed in parallel during processing, allowing safe, long-term, automatic processing and achieving “no-stop processing.” In addition, the company has succeeded in expanding the range of steel processing by incorporating unique support functions such as processing head nozzle condition monitoring and automatic centering functions that utilize AI, and protective glass condition diagnosis functions. Furthermore, it has a sales record and is expected to grow as a fundamental technology for the industry. Therefore, Laser Industry Encouragement Award will be awarded.
“Blue-IR Hybrid LASER BRACE®“
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. and NICHIA CORPORATION
Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd. and NICHIA CORPORATION have achieved deep penetration processing by combining blue and near-infrared (IR) fiber lasers while suppressing spatter. The blue laser is used as a preheat source for copper to stabilize the molten pool, and the IR laser performs sputter-free processing. They have also succeeded in commercializing BRACE®-X (Blue 1kW/IR 3kW), which has significantly increased output and brightness to achieve even higher quality and faster copper processing. This product meets the copper welding needs associated with the electrification of automobiles. It can also contribute to realizing carbon neutrality and potentially expand its performance significantly. Therefore, Laser Industry Encouragement Award will be awarded.
III． Laser Industry Contribution Award
“Continuous wavelength ultraviolet laser product group and its contribution to science and technology”
KIMMON KOHA CO., LTD.
KIMMON KOHA CO., LTD. has been developing and selling He-Cd lasers as continuous wave ultraviolet light sources for many years, from the 1970s to the present. Unlike blue lasers, which semiconductor lasers can supply, there are few substitutes for ultraviolet rays, and the company’s role in the industry can be huge. In this regard, the company has developed a high-power, linearly polarized 442/325nm laser that uses a single-sided internal mirror method as a metal laser and has created a series of 40 laser models with different oscillation wavelengths and outputs. The company has continued to provide these products to cutting-edge fields at various times. It is expected to make continued contributions in the future. Therefore, Laser Industry Contribution Award is awarded.
IV． Laser Industry Selection Committee Special Award
“Laser Autocollimator “Smart LAC””
Suruga Seiki Co., Ltd.
Autocollimators used to be expensive, large, and difficult to use for industrial purposes. Suruga Seiki Co., Ltd. has achieved an autocollimator with lower prices and smaller sizes by adopting a semiconductor laser light source. Since entering the market in 2002, the company has maintained the top share in popular industrial autocollimators. As a result of their efforts to lower the unit price, this product is unique even though the market size is not so large. It is also an excellent product that meets the needs of the market. Developing a device that realizes the industrial application of autocollimators can be evaluated as having made a high contribution to the industry and is expected to continue spreading into new markets. Therefore, Laser Industry Selection Committee Special Award will be awarded.
