Role of Thermal Stresses in Degradation of High Power Laser Diodes

Catastrophic degradation of high power laser diodes is due to the generation of extended defects inside the active parts of the laser structure during the laser operation.The mechanism driving the degradation is strongly related to the existence of localized thermal stresses generated during the laser operation.These thermal stresses can overcome the yield strength of the materials forming the active part of the laser diode.Different factors contribute to reduce the laser power threshold for degradation.Among them the thermal transport across the laser structure constitutes a critical issue for the reliability of the device.

Diode Pumped High Peak Power Quasi Q-Switched and Passively Q-Switched Nd:YVO₄Lasers at 1064 nm and 532 nm using Cr:YAG and KTP crystals

Diode end-pumped solid-state lasers have the potential to yield high quality laser beams with high efficiency for laser range finding and warning receiver applications as well as day and night military laser designation systems. In this paper we presents theoretical calculations using Advanced Dynamics Professional LASCAD software and experimental studies for a high power pigtailed fiber diode laser module of 8 W operating at 808 nm with a specially designed high efficiency cooling system, end pumped high-efficiency Nd:YVO4 laser of 3 × 3 × 10 mm rod and overall cavity length of 44 mm. To the best of our knowledge a self Q-switching effects was generated in Nd:YVO4 laser by changing the cavity dimensions and the position of the intracavity KTP crystal at certain regime of operation for the first time, in which the cavity length is reduced to be 30 mm and the distance between Nd:YVO4 rod and KTP crystal is only 1mm. Self Q-switched laser pulse at 532 nm with high peak power of 96 W, pulse width of 88 ns at FWHM and repetition rate of 400 kHz was achieved. Experimental studies of a passive Q-switched Nd:YVO4 laser using Cr:YAG crystal with three different transmissions of 30%, 40% and 70% were investigated. Passive Q-switched laser pulse at 1064 nm and narrow line width of less than 1.5 nm with highest peak power of nearly 18 kW, short pulse width of less than 4 ns at FWHM and higher repetition rate of 45 kHz using Cr:YAG with transmission of 30% was achieved for the first time.

975 nm multimode semiconductor lasers with high-order Bragg diffraction gratings

The 975 nm multimode diode lasers with high-order surface Bragg diffraction gratings have been simulated and calcu-lated using the 2D finite difference time domain(FDTD)algorithm and the scattering matrix method(SMM).The periods and etch depth of the grating parameters have been optimized.A board area laser diode(BA-LD)with high-order diffraction grat-ings has been designed and fabricated.At output powers up to 10.5 W,the measured spectral width of full width at half maxi-mum(FWHM)is less than 0.5 nm.The results demonstrate that the designed high-order surface gratings can effectively nar-row the spectral width of multimode semiconductor lasers at high output power.

Drivers for High Power Laser Diodes

During the last year the high power laser diodes jumped over the 1 kW level of CW power for a stack, and the commercial 1 cm bars reached 100 W output optical power at the standard wavelengths around 800 nm and 980 nm. The prices are reaching the industry acceptable levels. All Nd∶YAG and fiber industrial lasers manufacturers have developed kW prototypes. Those achievements have set new requirements for the power supplies manufactuers-high and stable output current, and possibilities for fast control of the driving current, keeping safe the expensive laser diode. The fast switching frequencies also allow long range free space communications and optical range finding. The high frequencies allow the design of a 3D laser radar with high resolution and other military applications. The prospects for direct laser diode micro machining are also attractive.

GaN-based blue laser diode with 6.0 W of output power under continuous-wave operation at room temperature

In this work,we reported the room-temperature continuous-wave operation of 6.0 W GaN-based blue laser diode(LD),and its stimulated emission wavelength is around 442 nm.The GaN-based high power blue LD is grown on a c-plane GaN substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition(MOCVD),and the width and length of the ridge waveguide structure are 30 and 1200μm,respectively.The threshold current is about 400 mA,and corresponding threshold current density is 1.1 kA/cm2.

High efficiency, high power 808nm laser array and stacked arrays optimized for elevated temperature operation

Operation of 808-nm laser diode pumping at elevated temperature is crucial to many applications. Reliable operation at high power is limited by high thermal load and low catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD) threshold at elevated temperature range. We demonstrated high efficiency and high power operation at elevated temperature with high COMD power. These results were achieved through device design optimization such as growth conditions, doping profile, and materials composition of the quantum-well and other layers. Electrical-to-optical efficiency as high as 62% was obtained through lowered threshold current, lowered series resistance and increased slope efficiency. The performance of single broad-area laser diodes scales to that of high power single bars on water-cooled copper micro-channel heatsinks or conductively-cooled CS heatsinks. No reduction in bar performance or significant spectral broadening is seen when these micro-channel coolers are assembled into 6-bar and 18-bar CW stacks for the highest power levels.

Generation of high power laser at 1314 nm from a diode-side-pumped Nd:YLF module

We demonstrate a high power continuous-wave （CW） and acoustic-optically （AO） Q-switched 1314-nm laser with a diode-side-pumped Nd：YLF module. A maximum CW output power of 21.6 W is obtained with a diode pump power of 180 W, corresponding to an optical-to-optical conversion efficiency of 12.0% and a slope efficiency of 16.1%. In the Q-switching operation, a highest pulse energy of 3.8 mJ is obtained at a pulse repetition rate of 1 kHz. The shortest pulse width and maximum single peak power are 101.9 ns and 37.3 kW, respectively.

152 W high-power blue diode laser operated at 447 nm

We demonstrate a high-power blue diode laser operated at 447 nm combining laser diodes using an optical fiber bundle. As many as 127 diode lasers at 447 nm were coupled into 400 μm/0.22 NA fibers using an aspherical lens group with different focus lengths. The bare fibers were mechanically bundled through high temperature ultraviolet adhesive after the coatings of the 127 fibers were stripped. The diameter of the fiber bundle was 6 mm. The total output power of such a bundle was 152 W with electro-optical conversion efficiency of 27.56%and the RMS power instability was less than ±1% within 3 h.

MOCVD growth of AlGaInP/GaInP quantum well laser diode with asymmetric cladding structure for high power applications

In order to improve the characteristics of the general broad-waveguide 808-nm semiconductor laser diode （LD）, we design a new type quantum well LD with an asymmetric cladding structure. The structure is grown by metal organic chemical vapor deposition （MOCVD）. For the devices with 100-ttm-wide stripe and 1000-/zm-long cavity under continuous-wave （CW） operation condition, the typical threshold current is 190 mA, the slope efficiency is 1.31 W/A, the wall-plug efficiency reaches 63%, and the maximum output power reaches higher than 7 W. And the internal absorption value decreases to 1.5 cm^-1.

Scaling diode-pumped, high energy picosecond lasers to kilowatt average powers

Recent results in the development of diode-driven high energy, high repetition rate, picosecond lasers, including the demonstration of a cryogenic Yb:YAG active mirror amplifier that produces 1.5 J pulses at 500 Hz repetition rate(0.75 kW average power) are reviewed. These pulses are compressed resulting in the generation of ~5 ps duration,1 J pulses with 0.5 kW average power. A full characterization of this high power cryogenic amplifier, including atwavelength interferometry of the active region under >1 kW average power pump conditions, is presented. An initial demonstration of operation at 1 kW average power(1 J, 1 k Hz) is reported.

Finite element analysis of expansion-matched submounts for high-power laser diodes packaging

In order to improve the output power and increase the lifetime of laser diodes,expansion-matched submounts were investigated by finite element analysis.The submount was designed as sandwiched structure.By varying the vertical structure and material of the middle layer,the thermal expansion behavior on the mounting surface was simulated to obtain the expansion-matched design.In addition,the thermal performance of laser diodes packaged by different submounts was compared.The numerical results showed that,changing the thickness ratio of surface copper to middle layer will lead the stress and junction temperature to the opposite direction.Thus compromise needs to be made in the design of the vertical structure.In addition,the silicon carbide（SiC） is the most promising material candidate for the middle layer among the materials discussed in this paper.The simulated results were aimed at providing guidance for the optimal design of sandwich-structure submounts.

Thermal investigation of high-power GaAs-based laser diodes

The thermal characteristics of high-power AlGaAs/GaAs laser diodes（LDs） at high current（2-10 A）are studied with electrical transient method.The temperature rise increases linearly with the current.The thermal resistance of chip is the largest proportion of total thermal resistance.By increasing the width of the chip from 500 to 800 fim,the temperature rise and thermal resistance decrease by 8.5%and 8.8%,respectively.

Two-dimensional beam shaping and homogenization of high power laser diode stack with rectangular waveguide

In this paper, the research work of twodimensional beam shaping and homogenization of high power laser diode (LD) stack by a rectangular waveguide is presented. Both the theoretical simulation and experiment results have shown that the diode stack beam can be shaped into a uniform square spot with a dimension of 10 mm×10 mm and the non-uniformity less than 5% along both directions of slow axis and fast axis, the shaped beam has a uniform pumping depth over 10 mm, which is well to be used for a rectangular laser medium end pumping.

Diode-pumped 10 W femtosecond Yb:CALGO laser with high beam quality

We demonstrate a diode-pumped femtosecond Yb:CaGdAlO_(4)(Yb:CALGO)laser with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror(SESAM)for stable mode-locking operation.A perfect beam profile is measured under 10 W output power with M_(x)^(2)=1.017 and M_(y)^(2)=1.016 in the horizontal and vertical directions,respectively.At the repetition rate of 71.66 MHz,the optical pulse duration is 247 fs and the pulse energy is 140 nJ at the central wavelength of 1041 nm,corresponding to a peak power of 0.56 MW.In addition,we also generate continuous wave(CW)power of more than 15 W with TEM00 mode,corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 44.1%.

双应力交叉步进加速退化试验下大功率半导体激光器寿命预测方法

高可靠性已成为大功率半导体激光器实用化的重要指标之一,而寿命预测是大功率半导体激光器可靠性评估的首要环节。文中提出了一种双应力交叉步进加速退化的试验方法,对830 nm F-mount封装的大功率半导体激光器进行了四种不同的双应力条件A[22℃,1.4 A],B[42℃,1.4 A],C[42℃,1.8 A],D[62℃,1.8 A]下的电流-温度交叉步进加速退化试验研究,对光输出功率退化轨迹进行拟合,按照80%功率退化作为失效判据,结合修正后的艾琳模型和威布尔分布外推得到器件在正常工作条件下的平均失效时间(MTTF)为5811 h。文中给出了完整的加速退化模型建立过程与详细的外推寿命计算方法,并对模型进行了准确性检验,误差不超过10%。该方法相比单应力恒定加速试验方法,可以大幅度节约试验时间和试验成本,这对于大功率半导体激光器的自主研制具有重要的指导意义。

1060 nm锑化物应变补偿有源区激光二极管仿真及其性能研究

本文设计了GaAs基1060 nm高性能激光二极管的有源区结构,通过在有源区中引入锑化物的应变补偿结构GaAsP/InGaAs/GaAsSb/InGaAsSb/GaAsP,改变了有源区的能带结构,解决了禁带宽度对发光波长的限制,将弱Ⅱ型的量子阱能带结构变为Ⅰ型,增大了电子空穴的波函数重叠,提高了激光二极管跃迁概率和辐射复合概率及内量子效率,降低了非辐射复合,有效增强了器件输出功率和电光转换效率。同时,设计了非对称异质双窄波导结构,p侧采用导带差大、价带差小的AlGaAs作为内、外波导层,有利于价带空穴注入有源区且对导带中的电子形成良好的限制。n侧采用导带差小、价带差大的GaInAsP作为内、外波导层,有利于导带电子的注入且对价带中的空穴形成更高的势垒。电子注入势垒和空穴注入势垒分别由原先的218、172 meV降低到148、155 meV,提高了激光二极管的载流子注入效率;电子泄漏势垒和空穴泄漏势垒分别由252、287 meV上升到289、310 meV,增强了载流子限制能力。最后获得的激光二极管的输出功率和电光转换效率分别达到了6.27 W和85.39%,为制备高性能GaAs基1060 nm激光二极管提供了理论指导和数据支撑。

基于小角度V形腔光谱合束的半导体激光器和频

通过小角度V形腔外腔光谱合束将两个808 nm半导体激光器合束,提高半导体激光器的输出功率及光束质量。两个合束单元分别工作在795.8 nm和800.5 nm,将所获光束通过非线性光学方法进行频率转换。外腔光谱合束实现输出功率为6.5 W快慢轴光束质量M^(2)=2.2×18.5的光束输出,所获光束慢轴M2因子相较于自由运转单管激光器提高了30%,外腔光谱合束效率为83%。基于所获光源,实现了半导体激光器小角度V形腔外腔光谱合束和频,获得输出功率为18.3 mW波长为401.0 nm的蓝光输出,和频效率为0.28%。

Diode-pumped CW Tm:GdVO_4 laser at 1.9 μm

A high power cryogenic cooling Tin-doped （2%） GdVO4 laser double-end-pumped by fiber-coupled-diode： with the center wavelength of 804.5 nm at 21 ℃ is reported. The highest continuous-wave （CW） power of 2.35 W at 1903 nm is attained at pump power of 24 W. The slope efficiency is 12.5% and the tt, reshoht is 3.2 W. Single- and double-end-pumped types are investigated.

Conceptual design of the Kumgang laser: a high-power coherent beam combination laser using SC-SBS-PCMs towards a Dream laser

In this review paper, we introduce a self-phase controlled stimulated Brillouin scattering phase conjugate mirror(SCSBS-PCM) and the Kumgang laser. The SC-SBS-PCM was proposed and demonstrated its success at the academic low power level, ~100 mJ@10 Hz. The Kumgang laser is under development to verify whether the SC-SBS-PCM is operable at the k W level. It is a 4 kW beam combination laser combining four 1 k W beams using the SC-SBS-PCM. If the Kumgang laser functions successfully, it will be the most important step towards a Dream laser, a hypothetical laser with unlimited power and a high repetition rate.

400 μm stripe lasers for high-power fiber coupled pump modules

We present a 940 nm quasi-continuous wave semiconductor laser designed as a building block for high-power fiber coupled pump modules.The laser comprises a 400μm narrow-stripe array mounted on an aluminum nitride substrate using hard solder.The chip has been optimized for high optical power and low lateral far-field angles.Two vertical and six lateral structure variations have been investigated to determine the best achievable performance.Operating at 1 ms pulse width and a repetition rate of 10 Hz,the laser device reaches a maximum pulse power of 86 W from a 400μm aperture and more than 62%maximum conversion efficiency.Low lateral far-field angles(95%power enclosed)of11.5 and 13.5,depending on the epitaxial design,enable efficient multimode fiber coupling.The potential for highly reliable applications has been demonstrated.