22 W continuous wave output power for 975 nm diode laser is a record

8 March 2006 News

A US company claims to have achieved record-high 22 W of continuous wave (CW) output power from a 975 nm wavelength single-stripe multimode diode laser operating at 25°C. This represents a 47% improvement over the previously reported highest value up to 1 micron wavelength, according to Alfalight, a manufacturer of high-power diode laser products supplying industrial, telecoms, and defence markets.

High-performance, high-power laser diodes are a critical component of high-power laser systems including diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers, fibre lasers, and optical amplifiers.

Alfalight (www.alfalight.com) says that its development team significantly improved both the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and the device's characteristic temperature (T1) to attain the record 22 W of continuous wave output power. At a 25°C heatsink temperature, the devices roll over thermally and do not suffer from catastrophic optical mirror damage, it says. The peak PCE of this device is 68%. High PCE laser diodes enable higher optical output power by producing less waste heat and a lower junction temperature.

The development efforts were sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) Super High Efficiency Diode Sources (SHEDS) Program.

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