Diode Laser Efficiency Increases Enable > 400-W Peak Power From 1-cm Bars and Show Clear Path to Peak Powers in Excess of 1-kW

Abstract

Peak optical power from single 1-cm diode laser bars is advancing rapidly across all commercial wavelengths. Progress in material performance is reviewed and we show that current trends imply there is no fundamental barrier to achieving peak powers of 1-kW per 1-cm diode laser bar. For bars with such high peak powers. commercially available reliable devices would be expected to deliver ~300-W per bar. Progress to date has allowed us to demonstrate > 400-W peak output from single 1-cm diode laser bars at emission wavelengths from 800-nm to 980-nm. The available range of emission wavelengths has also been increased. with 90-W bars shown at 660-nm and 24W at 1900-nm. complementing the 100-W bar previously demonstrated at 1470-nm. Peak power is seen to correlate closely peak efficiency. Further advances in diode laser efficiency and low thermal resistance packaging technology continue to drive these powers higher. The most critical improvements have been the reduction in the diode laser operating voltage though optimization of hetero-barriers (leading to 73% efficient 100-W bars on copper micro-channel) and a reduction in packaging thermal resistance by optimizing micro-channel performance (leading to <0.2- degrees C/W thermal resistance).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2006
Accession Number
ADA445167

Entities

People

  • Alex Basauri
  • Damian Wise
  • Jun Wang
  • Mark Defranza
  • Mike Bougher
  • Paul Crump
  • Sandrio Elim
  • Shiguo Zhang
  • Steve Patterson
  • Weimin Dong

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Current Density
  • Efficiency
  • Failure Mode And Effect Analysis
  • Flow Rate
  • Heat Sinks
  • Laser Diodes
  • Laser Materials
  • Lasers
  • Materials
  • Peak Power
  • Power Levels
  • Quantum Wells
  • Resistance
  • Semiconductors
  • Thermal Resistance

Fields of Study

  • Materials science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Electronics Engineering
  • Gender and Food Studies
  • Pulsed Power and Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers