Into the blue.(Sci-Tech Feature)

Progress in the development of semiconductor lasers is lighting the way for the introduction of ever more desirable, perhaps even unimaginably desirable, consumer electronics. Uchida Shiro of Sony Shiroishi Semiconductor details Japan's leading role in the development of these essential device, from the first patent application in the 1950s to Sony's launch in April this year of the first product employing the next-generation blue laser.

A key component of home electronics equipment such as CD players and DVD players that use optical discs is a part called a semiconduct