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代表取締役社長 菅原 充 人物写真

A pioneer in the commercialization of quantum dot laser technology, QD Laser Co., Inc. was launched in 2006 as a spin-off venture of Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. The company delivers new semiconductor laser-based solutions to customers in a broad range of fields, including telecommunications, manufacturing, medicine and consumer products.

We were the first in the world to successfully develop and mass produce quantum dot lasers for communications that operate without current adjustments. Our continuous string of innovative products includes picosecond short-pulse DFB lasers for precision processing; current injection-type green, yellow-green and orange lasers for the biological sciences; quantum dot laser arrays for silicon optical circuits; broadband gain chips for ophthalmic testing equipment; and retinal imaging laser eyewear.

In a world where people and things have started connecting with all kinds of information, the usefulness of semiconductor laser technology is constantly increasing. For example, quantum dot lasers that reliably operate with low noise at high temperatures have a bright future ahead. By serving as the light source for silicon optical circuits that process ultra-large volumes of information, they are expected to dramatically expand the processing capabilities of information processing systems. Our retinal imaging laser eyewear also has great potential due to its superiority in terms of focus-free operation, universal design and augmented reality. It will likely be used in the near future to assist people with vision problems, support ophthalmic and medical examinations, and work tasks. Eventually, it will spread throughout the world as a wearable terminal device for general consumers.

We will continue to grow as a leading semiconductor laser company that creates new markets based on our corporate philosophy of “Through light, the world is evolving.” Through our innovative and highly reliable products, we aim to contribute to the growth of our customers' businesses as well as support world peace and happiness by making everyone’s life safer and more prosperous.

Dr. Mitsuru Sugawara
President and CEO

Dr. Sugawara’s profile

Board of Directors

  • 菅原 充

    Mitsuru Sugawara

    President and CEO

    Mr. Sugawara joined the Fujitsu Laboratory Ltd. where he specialized in quantum electronics and conducted semiconductor laser research and development from the basics to final application. For a while he was a non-tenured professor at the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo. He launched QD Laser Inc. in 2006. He has received many international awards including the IEEE Photonic Society Aron Kressel Award. Mr. Sugawara is a Doctor of Engineering, and graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Tokyo.

  • 幸野谷 信次

    Shinji Konoya

    Director & CFO General Manager Corporate Planning

    Mr. Konoya joined Fujitsu Ltd where he managed overseas subsidiaries. Later he was in charge of the Business Strategy Department of Fujitsu CVC. While proceeding with venture investments and M&A, he met Mr. Mitsuru Sugawara and helped to launch QD Laser, Inc. Mr. Konoya graduated from the Law School of Hokkaido University, and is a member of the Security Analysts Association of Japan.

  • 吉田 勉

    Tsutomu Yoshida

    Outside Director

    Mr. Yoshida was Director of Corporate Investment at Mitsui Co., Ltd. and President and CEO of its CVC. He has over 30 years of experience of investment in global companies and ventures, M&As and corporate revitalization. He is well practiced in business management and education. He is the current Director of Corporate Development Department of Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings. Mr Yoshida graduated from the School of Economics, at The University of Tokyo, and holds a Master's Degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

  • 波多野 薫

    Kaoru Hatano

    Outside Director

    In charge of research and development and intellectual property operations as a leader of the research and development department at the Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd. New business development and sales manager at Clarivate. Jointly founded Cardio Intelligence Inc. in 2019 and is in charge of business planning, financing, intellectual property, and basic technology development. Tohoku University specially appointed professor (current position). Master of Information Science, Tohoku University. Master of Business Administration, Graduate School of Management, Globis University.

  • 内田 悟

    Satoru Uchida

    Outside Director (Member of the Audit Committee)

    After joining Nippon Oil Corporation, he served as Director of Lubricants Sales Division and Director of Overseas Business Division. After serving as President of JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation USA and Executive Regional Officer, Americas of JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation, he served as Executive officer of JX Holdings Corporation. Graduated from the Department of Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University.

  • 山田 啓之

    Hiroyuki Yamada

    Outside Director (Member of the Audit Committee)

    Mr. Yamada launched the AZX Corporation in 2002 and has been supporting the growth strategy of many venture companies. As an outside auditor of public-listed companies, he has rich knowledge of corporate compliance and governance. Mr. Yamada is a tax accountant, and graduated from the Faculty of Law, at Keio University.

  • 森 大輝

    Hiroki Mori

    Outside Director (Member of the Audit Committee)

    Mr. Mori registered as a lawyer in 2012. After joined Kohwa Sogo Law Office, served as a securities inspector in the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Division at the Ministry of Finance. After serving as a wholesale compliance department at Mizuho Securities and a public underwriting department at SMBC Nikko Securities, he became a partner of Kohwa Sogo Law Office (current position). He has a lot of knowledge about general corporate legal affairs, internal control, risk management system, compliance system, business regulations related to financial product transactions Mr. Mori is a lawyer, and graduated from Keio University Law School.

  • 武政 敬三

    Keizo Takemasa

    Executive Officer (Director of the Laser Device Department)

    Mr. Takemasa joined Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd, where he was engaged in the development and research of semiconductor lasers. He joined QD Laser in 2008. As Director of Laser Devices, he conducts the development, production and sales of semiconductor lasers for communications and industry. Mr. Takemasa has a Master's Degree from the Department of Applied Physics, at the Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo.

  • 細山 尚登

    Hisato Hosoyama

    Executive Officer (Director of the Visual Information Device Department)

    Joined Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. and engaged in the design and development of small commercial terminals. After that, engaged in technology development and technology sales at Fujitsu Ltd. At our company, he directs medical device approval of RETISSA Medical and mass production of RETISSA Display II as the technical manager. Completed the master's course at the University of Electro-Communications Graduate School of Electronic Engineering. First-class land radio engineer.

Company Profile

Company name
QD Laser, Inc.
HQ
Postal code 210-0855
Keihin Building 1st floor,
1-1 Minamiwatarida-cho,
Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture
Directions
Listed Market
Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth Market
Securities Code
6613
Establishment
April 2006
President and CEO
Mitsuru Sugawara
Directors
Shinji Kounoya
Tsutomu Yoshida *
Kaoru Hatano *
Satoru Uchida *
(Member of the Audit Committee)
Hiroyuki Yamada *
(Member of the Audit Committee)
Hiroki Mori *
(Member of the Audit Committee)
*Outside Director as set forth in Article 2-15 of the Companies Act
Executive Officer
Keizo Takemasa
Hisato Hosoyama
Advisor
Yasuhiko Arakawa
(Professor at the University of Tokyo)
Accounting Auditor
Miogi Audit Corporation
Work permits, etc.
Second-class marketing license for medical devices (14B2X10039 / approved on March 16, 2017)
Registration of medical equipment manufacturer (14BZ200265 / registered on February 13, 2017)
Certification
ISO9001 Acquired January 2012
EN ISO 13485 Acquired October 2019
Quality policy
Our company seeks to satisfy customers through the development and supply of original, highly efficient semiconductor lasers and optical information devices for communications and diverse industries. We will continuously improve the effectiveness of our quality management system to meet market demands in a timely manner.

History

April 2006
Signed a research outsourcing contract with Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. for "Research on quantum dot laser and optical amplifiers”.
April 2006
Established the optical device venture company QD Laser, Inc. based on Fujitsu quantum dot laser technology using venture capital funds from Fujitsu Ltd. and Mitsui & Co., Ltd.
June 2006
Concluded a joint research agreement with The University of Tokyo on "Research on crystal growth technology of quantum dots”.
September 2006
Won a Runner-Up Award for the Semiconductor category at The Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards 2006.
September 2006
Received a second grant from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for the "Practical development of quantum dot lasers for optical communication".
June 2007
Mitsuru Sugawara, President and CEO of QD Laser, received the Prime Minister's Award at the 5th Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration conference.
February 2008
Realized the world's first quantum dot laser for optical communication capable of operating at temperatures between -40 and 100℃.
September 2008
Received a second grant from the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) for the "Practical development of quantum dot DFB lasers for optical communication".
December 2008
Raised a total 700 million yen in funds mainly from Mizuho Capital Co., Ltd.
January 2009
Quantum dot lasers were named the "Winner for Telecommunications" in IEEE Spectrum magazine.
March 2009
The world's first commercial mass production of quantum dot lasers for 10 Gbps optical communication.
October 2010
Quantum dot lasers won the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Award at the Green IT Awards 2010.
December 2010
Raised a total of 800 million yen in funds mainly from existing stockholders.
April 2011
Commercialized the DFB laser module with 1064 nm wavelength and superior single mode oscillation characteristics.
January 2012
Acquired ISO9001 certification.
January 2012
Developed a compact green laser module with 532 nm wavelength, maximum output over 100 mW and high-speed modulation capabilities, as well as compact (0.5 cc) yellow-green and orange laser modules with high-speed modulation capabilities.
April 2012
"Semiconductor quantum dot laser for communication" received an award for excellence at the 2011 Laser Society Industry Awards.
February 2014
Development of a 400 mW DFB laser module with 1064 nm wavelength.
February 2014
The "compact 561 nm laser module" was nominated as a Prism Awards finalist at Photonics West 2014.
April 2014
Commercialized picosecond pulse driver board with 1μm wavelength band DFB laser module.
June 2014
Developed a wearable "Laser Eyewear" information terminal.
July 2014
Mitsuru Sugawara, President and CEO of QD Laser; Keizo Takemasa, Director of the Laser Device Department; Kenichi Nishi, Deputy Director won the 2014 Aron Kressel Award from the IEEE Photonic Society.
March 2016
Won the 1st JEITA Venture Awards.
April 2016
Started a medical application SLO (scanning laser ophthalmoscopy) technology study group. Founder: Professor Satoshi Kato, Chairman of the Japan Society for Low-vision Research and Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology course in the Faculty of Medicine at The University of Tokyo Sponsor company: QD Laser, Inc.
October 2016
Established the Market Emergence of Retinal Imaging Technology (MERIT) consortium.
October 2016
Won the 16th Yamazaki Teiichi Prize for “Improvement of Communication Wavelength Band Quantum Dot Laser, its Practical Application and Mass Production”.
October 2016
“Retinal scanning laser eyewear technology” won U.S. Media Panel Innovation Awards Grand Prix at CEATEC JAPAN 2016.
October 2016
“Retinal scanning laser eyewear technology” won the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Award at CEATEC JAPAN 2016.
February 2017
"Ultra-short Pulsed Seeder for Fiber Laser" won an award at the Photonics West Prism Awards 2017.
April 2017
Received the WIRED Audi Innovation Award 2017.
February 2018
"Development and manufacture of semiconductor quantum dot lasers with high-temperature features" won an award at the 33rd Kenjiro Sakurai Memorial Awards.
April 2018
Started accepting corporate orders for the RETISSA® Display.
June 2018
Started a domestic clinical study of retinal scanning laser eyewear.
July 2018
Started shipping the RETISSA® Display for corporate use and accepting individual orders.
October 2018
Started the clinical study of retinal scanning laser eyewear in Europe.
October 2018
Completed the domestic clinical study of retinal scanning laser eyewear.
October 2018
RETISSA® Display won second prize for “Wearable Awards” at the NIKKEI xTECH EXPO AWARD 2018.
October 2018
Started the application of VISIRIUM® Technology for broadcasting services.
October 2018
Started accepting individual orders for the RETISSA® Display.
December 2018
First shipments of the RETISSA® Display.
February 2019
RETISSA® Display won the PRISM AWARDS 2019.
February 2019
Applied for the medical device manufacturing and sales approval.
April 2019
Signed the contract of “official sponsor” with Japan Para Athletics.
April 2019
Practiced third-party allocation of shares.
April 2019
The “QLD106G-6410 series of ultrashort-pulse 1064 nm DFB seed lasers” won the industrial encouragement award of the 11th Laser Society of Japan.
June 2019
Realized the development of a new method for retinal scanning display, cost reduction and downsizing.
June 2019
QD Laser employee and a visual disorder Judo player, Shinsuke Ishikawa, won 1st place at the IBSA Judo Asia & Oceania Championships Japan National Team candidate selection competition (-100kg class).
July 2019
Fujitsu Inc. and the Nohgaku Performers’ Association signed a partnership agreement to expand their fan base, and adopted QD Laser’s RETISSA® Display to promote ICT use in traditional theater arts.
October 2019
Started accepting advance orders for the RETISSA® Display II.
October 2019
Acquired EN ISO 13485 certification.
December 2019
Signed a financing agreement for 1.7 billion yen in total with three financial institutions
December 2019
Started in-store demonstrations of a retinal scanning laser eyewear, “RETISSA® Display II”
January 2020
Acquired manufacturing and sales approval for a medical device for people with low vision, “RETISSA® MEDICAL”

Location

QD Laser is headquartered in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. We develop, manufacture and sell state-of-the-art lasers including quantum dot lasers.

HQ

Keihin Building 1st floor, 1-1 Minamiwatarida-cho, Kawasaki-ku,
Kawasaki, Kanagawa 210-0855
(Located in Technology Hub Innovation Kawasaki "THINK")

By Train

- Exit JR Kawasaki Station.
Take a cab to Keihin building. (About 15 minutes)

- 5 minutes walk from JR Hamakawasaki Station.

By Car

- Take Shuto Expressway Yokohane-line, and exit Hamakawasaki from Tokyo or exit Asada from Yokohama.

閉じる

Dr. Sugawara’s profile

1984
Graduated with a master’s degree in applied physics from the School of Engineering, University of Tokyo, and entered Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.
1995
Became a senior researcher of Fujitsu Laboratories’ optical semiconductor devices laboratory and earned a Ph.D. in engineering at the University of Tokyo
1999
Became a guest associate professor of the Tokyo Institute of Technology’s Department of Electronics and Functional Systems (concurrent position)
2001
Appointed manager of Photo Novel Technology Research at Fujitsu Laboratories
2004
Became a professor at the Institute of Industrial Science, University of Tokyo
2005
Became the deputy manager of Fujitsu Laboratories’ Nanotechnology Research Center
2006
Became president and CEO of QD Laser, Inc. (current position)

Awards

October 2006
Technology Innovation Awards Runners-Up, "Quantum-dot lasers for optical communication using nano-size semiconductor particles as light emitters", The Wall Street Journal
April 2008
Received a Science and Technology Award in the research category for "Research on quantum dot lasers for optical communication" from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).
June 2008
Received a Prime Minister's Award for Industry-Academia-Government Collaboration on "Development of photonic network technology and establishment of a university-led carve-out venture".
June 2009
IEEE Spectrum Special Technology Issue Winner Award
September 2010
Received the 4th Fellow Award from the Japan Society of Applied Physics.
October 2010
Received the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Award (Green IT Award 2010).
April 2012
Received an award of excellence at the Laser Society Industry Awards for "Semiconductor quantum dot laser for communication".
October 2014
IEEE Photonic Society Aron Kressel Award, "For pioneering contributions to the development of temperature-insensitive quantum dot lasers, and their commercialization and mass-production for optical communication systems".
March 2016
Received an award at the 1st JEITA Venture Awards
October 2016
Received a Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry Award and U.S. Media Panel Innovation Awards Grand Prix award at CEATEC 2016
November 2016
Received the 16th Yamazaki Teiichi Prize for "Improvement of Communication Wavelength Band Quantum Dot Laser, its Practical Application and Mass Production"
February 2017
Received an award at the Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation 2017 during the Photonic West 2017 exhibition in the U.S.
April 2017
Received an award at WIRED Audi Innovation Awards 2017
February 2018
Received the 33rd Kenjiro Sakurai Memorial award for contribution toward “Development and commercialization of high temperature characteristics semiconductor quantum dot laser”.
October 2018
RETISSA® Display won Nikkei xTECH EXPO AWARD 2018 associate Grand Prix.
February 2019
RETISSA® Display won PRISM AWARD 2019