USDC Awards Contract To PD-LD For Laser-based Illuminators For Projection Displays

March 29, 2007

The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC), a public/private partnership chartered with developing the flat panel display (FPD) industry infrastructure, and PD-LD have initiated a development contract focused on PD-LD's VBG™ (Volume Bragg Grating®) glass development. The $503,000 cost-shared award will enable PD-LD to continue development of VBG technology for high-brightness laser illuminators in projection displays. Laser-based illuminators (or lighting systems) for projection displays are one of the most promising technologies for this growing display market. Laser-based projection technology takes advantage of the lasers' extremely low cost, size and its very long lifetimes, which leads to a reduced total cost of ownership. In addition, utilizing lasers as illuminators enables display manufacturers to expand the color gamut, thus improving picture quality beyond current technology capabilities. The fundamental characteristics of lasers demonstrate excellent brightness, have very low light scattering and provide outstanding color. PD-LD's proprietary and patented grating technology is used in many applications, including spectroscopy and telecommunications. This technology can also be used in laser sources for rear projection television sets (RPTVs). In laser illuminators, a high-efficiency output coupler is required to control the wavelength and bandwidth of light. This output coupler typically contains a Volume Bragg Grating® (VBG™) element that reflects the infrared light of the laser source back into the cavity, but is also transparent to the visible (green, blue or red) light. Without a VBG™, efficient and stable conversion into visible light is difficult to achieve. The USDC-sponsored project will provide enhanced efficiency and stability of laser sources for RPTVs by improving the quality of the glass used for the grating components. "The USDC funding is valuable in that it will enable continued development of PD-LD's novel illuminator technology. Once applied to projection display systems, the technology enables much lower cost and higher performance for many applications compared to options available today," noted Vladimir Ban, president and chief executive officer of PD-LD. "USDC's funding will be specifically applied to solving issues of efficiency and stability for laser illuminators." "I am pleased that PD-LD has been awarded this competitive award to provide advanced illuminator technology for new display systems," said Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12). "This award is clearly a reflection of the advanced research and development and high-quality products right here in Central New Jersey. By providing improvements in display systems, a rapidly growing segment of the advanced electronics industry, PD-LD is strengthening our state's economic and technology base." The USDC program is a collaborative effort of private industry and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, located in Adelphi, Md.

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