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High power, high brightness diode lasers are beginning to challenge solid state lasers, i.e. disk and fiber lasers. The core technologies for brightness scaling of diode lasers are optical stacking and dense spectral combining (DSC), as well as improvements of the diode material. Diode lasers will have the lowest cost of ownership, highest efficiency and most compact design among all lasers. In our modular product design tens of single emitters are combined in a compact package and launched into a 200 μm fiber with 0.08 NA. Dense spectral combining enables power scaling from 80 W to kilowatts. Volume Bragg Gratings and dichroic filters yield high optical efficiencies of more than 80% at low cost. Each module emits up to 500 W with a beam quality of 5.5 mm*mrad and less than 20 nm linewidth. High speed switching power supplies are integrated into the module and rise times as short as 6 μs have been demonstrated. Fast control algorithms based on FPGA and embedded microcontroller ensure high wall plug efficiency with a unique control loop time of only 30 μs. Individual modules are spectrally combined to result in direct diode laser systems with kilowatts of output power at identical beam quality. For low loss fiber coupling a 200 μm fiber is used and the NA is limited to 0.08 corresponding to a beam quality of 7.5 mm*mrad. The controller architecture is fully scalable without sacrificing loop time. We leverage automated manufacturing for cost effective, high yield production. A precision robotic system handles and aligns the individual fast axis lenses and tracks all quality relevant data. Similar technologies are also deployed for dense spectral combining aligning the VBG and dichroic filters. Operating at wavelengths between 900 nm and 1100 nm, these systems are mainly used in cutting and welding, but the technology can also be adapted to other wavelength ranges, such as 793 nm and 1530 nm. Around 1.5 μm the diodes are already successfully used for resonant pumping of Erbium lasers.[1] Optimized spectral combining enables further improvements in spectral brightness and power.
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