Feature
High power, long life continuous-wave monolithic laser diode arrays
Multistripe monolithic AlGaAs laser diode arrays show considerable promise as sources of high power, high efficiency narrow bandwidth optical energy. Examples of applications include: a) optical pumping of solid state laser media, b) infrared illumination, c) laser soldering, and d) eye surgery. Power levels of 38 W have been demonstrated at room temperature under continuous-wave (cw) conditions for twenty 10-stripe lasers spaced along a 1 cm bar (2 mm total aperture width). We report cw operation up to 76 W and 55 W from 1 cm laser diode arrays with aperture widths of 3 mm and 2 mm, at heat-sink temperatures of 0° C and 23° C, respectively. We also show that a projected lifetime in excess of 5,000 hours is obtained at 10 W at 20° C heatsink temperature.
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