LIGHT SOURCE HEAD AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS

• US 20090297223A1
• Filed: 11/14/2008
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp. (Fujifilm Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Fuji Xerox Company Limited (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: SUZUKI, Teiichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,948,004 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 399/221
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/04072 by laser
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/326 by application of light, e.g. using a LED array
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 257/918 Light emitting regenerative switching device, e.g. light emitting scr arrays, circuitry

Abstract

A self-scanning light source head comprising: a substrate, surface emitting semiconductor lasers arranged in an array on the substrate, and at least one thyristor disposed on the substrate and serving as a switching element selectively turning ON and OFF light emission of the surface emitting semiconductor lasers, and an image forming apparatus using the same are provided.

Claims

1. A self-scanning light source head comprising:

a substrate,

surface emitting semiconductor lasers arranged in an array on the substrate, and

at least one thyristor disposed on the substrate and serving as a switching element selectively turning ON and OFF light emission of the surface emitting semiconductor lasers.

2. The self-scanning light source head according to claim 1, having the thyristor in the element structure of the surface emitting semiconductor laser.

3. The self-scanning light source head according to claim 2, wherein a dielectric multilayer film is disposed on a semiconductor multilayer film of a top layer of a light emitting surface of the surface emitting semiconductor laser.

4. The self-scanning light source head according to claim 2, wherein the surface emitting semiconductor laser has a configuration such that a lower semiconductor multilayer film reflecting layer, a semiconductor active layer, and an upper semiconductor multilayer film reflecting layer forming a resonator with the lower multilayer film reflecting layer are successively laminated on a semiconductor substrate.

5. The self-scanning light source head according to claim 4, wherein the lower semiconductor multilayer film reflecting layer contains a combination of a plurality of configurations of n-configuration and p-configuration semiconductor multilayer film reflecting layers.

6. The self-scanning light source head according to claim 5, wherein an end of a portion of a top layer of the combination of the plurality of configurations of n-configuration and p-configuration semiconductor multilayer film reflecting layers is reduced in the film thickness as compared with other portions;

at least one upper layer is laminated at a portion other than the film thickness-reduced portion; and

a gate electrode is disposed at the film thickness-reduced portion.

7. An image forming apparatus comprising:

an electrophotographic photoreceptor,

a charging unit that charges the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor,

an exposure unit that exposes the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor charged by the charging unit to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor,

a development unit that develops the electrostatic latent image by a developer in order to form a toner image,

a transfer unit that transfers the toner image to a recording medium, and

a fixing unit that fixes the toner image transferred to the recording medium,

the exposure unit being equipped with the light source head according to claim 1.