We report on our recent developments at II-VI Laser Enterprise of laser diode sources for the 79x nm range. High power conversion efficiency in excess of 62% was demonstrated. For high power applications like Thulium fiber laser pumping we have achieved an output power of more than 12.5W in CW operation for 94 μm wide broad-area single-emitters. We added the functionality of wavelength stabilization to the laser diodes by using a distributed feedback grating (DFB). Locking has been obtained over the full current range between 1A and 4A tested so far with some margin for temperature variation. For efficient fiber laser pumping the laser diodes were integrated in a multi-emitter platform, achieving 38 W out of a 105 μm fiber within 0.15 NA.
Fiber combining multiple pump sources for fiber lasers has enabled the thermal and
reliability advantages of distributed architectures. Recently, mini-bar based modules have been
demonstrated which combine the advantages of independent emitter failures previously shown in
single-stripe pumps with improved brightness retention yielding over 2 MW/cm2Sr in compact
economic modules. In this work multiple fiber-coupled mini-bars are fiber combined to yield an
output of over 400 W with a brightness exceeding 1 MW/cm2Sr in an economic, low loss
architecture.
New-generation multi-mode 9xx mini-bars used in fiber pump modules have been developed. The epitaxial designs have
been improved for lower fast-axis and slow-axis divergence, higher slope efficiency and PCE by optimizing layer
structures as well as minimizing internal loss. For 915nm mini-bars with 5-mm cavity length, maximum PCE is as high
as ~61% for 35W operation and remains above 59% at 45W.
For 808nm, a PCE of 56% at 135W CW operation has been demonstrated with 36%-fill-factor, 3-mm-cavity-length,
water-cooled bars at 50°C coolant temperature. On passive-cooled standard CS heatsinks, PCE of >51% is measured for
100W operation at 50°C heatsink temperature. Leveraging these improvements has enabled low-cost bars for high-power,
high-temperature applications.
High-power, packaged diode-laser sources continue to evolve through co-engineering of epitaxial design, beam conditioning and thermal management. Here we review examples of improvements made to key attributes including reliable power, brightness, power per unit volume and value.
Here we present details of the design and performance of a family of compact, fiber-coupled, multi-bar, laser-diode stacks. The highest-power variant employs a pair of 6-bar stacks and a removable 400-μm, 0.22 NA fiber to deliver >400 W at 50 A. The overall power conversion efficiency (PCE) near 976-nm exceeds 40% at 400 W in CW operation with an uncoated delivery fiber. The brightest variant reaches a power density near 800-kW/cm2 at 976-nm through a 200-μm, 0.22 NA fiber. Module variants have been built and characterized at multiple wavelengths between 780-nm and 980-nm. Applications for such modules include pumping of active fibers, pumping of rubidium vapor and direct material processing.
Leveraging improvements to device structures and cooling technologies, ultra-high-power bars have been integrated into
multi-bar stacks to obtain CW power densities in excess of 2.8 kW/cm2 near 960 nm with spectral widths of <4nm FWHM. These characteristics promise to enable cost-effective solutions for a variety of applications that demand very high spatial and/or spectral brightness. Using updated device designs, mini-bar variants have been employed to derive CW powers of several tens of Watts near 940 nm on traditional single-emitter platforms. For example, >37 W CW have been obtained from 5-emitter devices on standard CuW CT heatsinks with AuSn solder. Near 808 nm, a PCE of 65% with a slope efficiency of 1.29 W/A has been demonstrated with a 20%-fill-factor, 2-mm-cavity-length bar.
This paper gives an overview of recent product development and advanced engineering of diode laser technology at
Spectra-Physics. Focused development of device design, heat-sinking and beam-conditioning has yielded significant
improvement in both power conversion efficiency (PCE) and reliable power, leading to a family of new products. CW
PCEs of 60% to 70% have been delivered for the 880 to 980 nm wavelength range. For 780 to 810 nm, PCE are typically
between 50% and 56%. Comprehensive life-testing indicates that the reliable powers of devices based on the new
developments exceed those of established, highly reliable, production designs.
For the progress of ultra-high power bars, CW output power in excess of 1000 W and 640 W have been demonstrated
from single laser bars with doubled-side and single-side cooling, respectively. Spatial power density of greater than 2.8
kW/cm2 and FWHM spectral widths of 3.5 nm have been obtained from laser stacks.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.