DVD Smackdown

The battle between Sony and Toshiba is still raging. Last year during the International Consumer Electronics Show Sony unveiled Blu-Ray, while Toshiba launched HD DVD. Both formats are fighting to become the next generation of DVD technology, with the loser becoming this decade’s BetaMax. If you are old enough to remember, Sony’s BetaMax flopped hard in the early eighties when the more open standard VHS hit the market. Time will tell if Sony learned its lesson.

As reported by MSNBC.com, analysts had expected a clear winner to have already emerged. However, that does not seem to be the case. Sony’s Playstation 3 comes standard with a Blu-Ray DVD drive, and Toshiba is beginning to release HD DVD players.

“In an optimal world you would have one format,” Kevin Tsujihara, president of the Warner Bros. home entertainment group said this week. “But there are many industries where multiple formats have existed and flourished.”

However, many believe that only one format will survive.

“Consumers are aware there are two formats and they think ‘VHS versus Betamax,” said Phillip Swann, president of the technology-oriented Web site TVpredictions.com.

The competing videocassette technologies squared off in the 1980s with consumers eventually picking VHS as the winner.

“Consequently one of the formats has to go away, either via the marketplace or a negotiated truce.”

Both technologies are similar (at least to me). They both rely on GaN blue-lasers, which I will discuss more in an upcoming article. HD DVD currently has the edge in terms of price, with players retailing at around $500. Blu-Ray players cost about twice as much. However, both technologies will soon realize a dramatic decrease in cost. I’m hoping my research will one day play a small part.

Avalanche Photodiodes and Why Solid State Physicists Rule

Solid state physicists are contributing to the battle against terrorism. And unfortunately for pseudoscientist “new paradigm” theory hawkers, quantum physics has another application.

In this article, PhysOrg.com discusses newly developed Avalanche Photodiodes (APDs) and their application in the war on bio-terror.

Once optimized, these sensitive detectors could be combined with the ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (LEDs) already pioneered by the Center for Quantum Devices to create an inexpensive detection system capable of identifying the unique spectral fingerprints of a biological agent attack.

The APD technology may see further use in the deployment of systems for secure battlefield communication. Wavelengths around 280 nanometers are referred to as the solar-blind region; in this region, the UV light is filtered out by the ozone layer providing for a naturally low background signal. Solar-blind APDs are intrinsically able to take advantage of this low background level, while PMTs must use external filters to become solar-blind. This makes secure battlefield communication possible utilizing a combination of compact, inexpensive UV LEDs and UV APDs both developed at the Center for Quantum Devices.

You can learn more about how APDs work here.

Solar blind APDs rely on the wide band-gap AlGaN semiconductor. Unfortunately, current AlGaN growth techniques lead to a large number of crystalline defects. But the Center for Quantum Devices reports AlGaN crystals exhibiting solar blind avalanche gain.

My research group has worked on GaN defect reduction. A recent paper on these efforts can be found here.