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The origins of Hamamatsu Photonics
Dr. Kenjiro Takayanagi and Hamamatsu Photonics
On December 25, 1925, the Japanese character “イ” was displayed on a cathode ray tube for the first time in the world. Dr. Kenjiro Takayanagi, who succeeded in developing this electronic television, later came to be known as the "Father of Japanese Television."
Hamamatsu Photonics was founded by Heihachiro Horiuchi, the company’s first president, and Teruo Hiruma, its second president, both of whom studied under Dr. Takayanagi at Hamamatsu School of Technology. At the time of its founding, the company was named Hamamatsu TV Co., Ltd. The name reflected the company’s founding mission: to carry forward the spirit of Dr. Takayanagi and connect light with industry. Because Dr. Takayanagi and television were closely associated in the public mind, the name “Hamamatsu TV” was chosen as a symbol of that aspiration.
Since then, we have inherited both the “photoelectric technology” pioneered by Dr. Takayanagi—which converts light into electrical signals—and his spirit of pursuing frontiers previously unknown and unexplored by humanity. Together with the advancement of photonics, these principles have guided our growth.
Dr. Kenjiro Takayanagi (1899 to 1990)
Dr. Kenjiro Takayanagi - “Father of Japanese television”
Dr. Kenjiro Takayanagi was born in Hamamatsu, Japan in 1899, and graduated from the industrial teacher training school attached to the Tokyo Kuramae Higher Technical School (now Tokyo Institute of Technology). In 1924, he took a post as an assistant professor at Hamamatsu School of Technology (now the Faculty of Engineering of Shizuoka University), and at the same time he started research on television technology.
He spoke to his students from time to time saying things like, “What is the purpose of that technology? Will technology prove beneficial to our lives? Make these questions a fundamental part of your research at all times.” He also admonished us not to “learn for learning’s sake” and “research for research’s sake” and always struggled to link the acts of learning and research to value in human life and human society. He never changed this philosophy throughout his whole life.
Heihachiro Horiuchi, the founder of our company
(1915 to 1997)
Horiuchi with a vidicon in hand.
Being fascinated by the wonders of light since his elementary school days, Heihachiro Horiuchi entered the Electrical Department of Hamamatsu Industrial High School (now the Faculty of Engineering of Shizuoka University) where his hero Professor Takayanagi was teaching and was greatly inspired by the professor’s philosophy called Takayanagi-ism. Horiuchi decided to follow this “path of light” by providing society with the means or namely products that would make effective use of light and he worked on developing photoelectric devices that convert light into electrical signals and even now this basic technology still supports our work.
Teruo Hiruma, second president
(1926 to 2018)
Speech at the Hamamatsu Conference in 2007
Teruo Hiruma strongly advanced the challenge of exploring the unknown and unexplored, a spirit inherited from Dr. Takayanagi and Heihachiro Horiuchi, and made Hamamatsu Photonics grow into a global photonics company. As a sales engineer specializing in photonics, he personally built our worldwide sales network. At the same time, he laid the foundation for long-term research and development initiatives looking 20 to 31 years into the future, including PET research and laser fusion research.
A legacy of technology—the evolution of product development at Hamamatsu Photonics
The history of our product development began with phototubes based on photoelectric technology inherited from Dr. Takayanagi. Through our continued pursuit of the possibilities of light, we have developed a wide range of unique technologies and products.
Today, we develop and manufacture devices such as optical sensors (e.g., photomultiplier tubes and opto-semiconductor devices) and light sources, as well as modules incorporating dedicated circuitry and system products built around these technologies. Together, they enable us to provide optimal solutions for a broad range of applications.
One of Hamamatsu Photonics' earliest phototube
Product development lineage
Our product development has evolved from individual technologies into a wide variety of products. This lineage chart highlights the launch years of our major products and the technological links that connect them.
Pioneering photonics technologies
Photomultiplier tubes
Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), highly sensitive photosensors, are one of our core products and hold approximately 90 % of the global market share. They are used in a wide range of applications, including medical-bio, analytical, and industrial fields.
Our highly sensitive PMTs have expanded their applications in scientific research and contributed to two Nobel Prizes in Physics.
Photodiodes
Our photodiodes have long been used in a broad range of applications, including scientific measurement, medical, automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics. They are also used at the forefront of high-energy physics research.
Our avalanche photodiodes (APDs) and silicon strip detectors (SSDs) contributed to confirming the existence of the Higgs boson.
Image sensors
In 2010, the asteroid explorer Hayabusa made a miraculous return, attracting attention from all over the world. Image sensors developed by Hamamatsu Photonics were chosen for two devices used to investigate the composition of the surface of the asteroid Itokawa.
The InAs image sensor was also used in Hayabusa2, which was launched in 2014, to measure moisture on the surface of an asteroid.
qCMOS® cameras
The qCMOS camera is an ultra-sensitive camera that combines extremely low noise performance with fast readout.
They have been used to analyze samples from the asteroid Ryugu collected by the Hayabusa2 asteroid explorer, helping to unravel many mysteries.
MPPC® (SiPMs)
While MPPC is an optical semiconductor device, it has an excellent detection ability, so this device can be used in a variety of applications to detect very low-level light at the photon counting level.
Stealth Dicing™ technology
Stealth Dicing technology is a laser dicing technology that uses lasers, with a completely new concept. Blade dicing problems are solved by, for example, achieving a noncontact, fully dry process.
Failure analysis system
Imaging systems for localizing low light photoemission and thermal signal emitting semiconductor failures. Fault location identification ensures semiconductor device quality and reliability by pinpointing specific defect areas.
Digital slide scanner
Digital slide scanner is a family of whole slide scanners that convert glass slides into high-resolution digital data by high-speed scanning.
Creating what does not yet exist
A new “イ” character
On December 25, 1925, in Hamamatsu City, the Japanese character “イ” appeared electronically on a cathode ray tube. It was the moment when Dr. Takayanagi—later known as the Father of Television in Japan—created something the world had never seen before. This "television" technology transformed the lives of people around the world.
Research aimed at creating what does not yet exist and developing technologies that may seem impossible is often demanding. Yet such efforts can also lead to unexpected breakthroughs. We believe that such initiatives are precisely what brings new value to people and creates new industries in the world.
Inspired by Dr. Takayanagi’s spirit, Hamamatsu Photonics remains committed to the research and development of innovative technologies that contribute to society.
iPMSEL®
iPMSELs are surface-emitting-lasers originally developed by us that emit an arbitrary two-dimensional beam pattern directly from needle-tip-sized devices. In addition, the beam patterns can easily be switched electrically by integrating several devices into a module. The potential applications include LiDAR, three-dimensional shape measurement, indication, with our ultimate goal to realize a key light source for true three-dimensional displays.
Room-temperature THz-QCL source
Quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are promising light sources in the mid-infrared (IR) and terahertz (THz) spectral ranges (3 μm to 300 μm). In particular, the 1 THz to 6 THz spectral range is very attractive for many applications, such as imaging, chem-/bio-sensing, heterodyne detection, and spectroscopy.
QCLs based on the anti-crossed dual-upper-state (AnticrossDAUTM) active region, which was originally developed by our group, are a promising candidate due to its broad bandwidth as well as its high performance in devices.
Laser fusion research
One of the issues that must be solved in modern society is the energy problem. At present, more than 80% of Japan's primary energy comes from fossil fuels, but there is a limit to the energy resources on Earth. Under these circumstances, nuclear fusion power generation, which can extract energy from hydrogen isotopes inexhaustible in seawater, is said to be the key to solving environmental problems such as global energy problems and global warming, and is expected to be realized at an early stage. In particular, fusion power generation using high-power lasers is the ultimate industrial application using optical and laser technologies, and we are aiming to create a new optical industry centered on laser fusion.
High temporal performance gamma-ray detector
We have been developing a high temporal performance radiation detector making use of Cherenkov radiation, and investigating its feasibility as a PET detector.
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