Scalable high-power and high-brightness fiber coupled diode laser devices

Bernd Köhler; Sandra Ahlert; Andreas Bayer; Heiko Kissel; Holger Müntz; Axel Noeske; Karsten Rotter; Armin Segref; Michael Stoiber; Andreas Unger; Paul Wolf; Jens Biesenbach

doi:10.1117/12.909189

8 February 2012 Scalable high-power and high-brightness fiber coupled diode laser devices

Bernd Köhler, Sandra Ahlert, Andreas Bayer, Heiko Kissel, Holger Müntz, Axel Noeske, Karsten Rotter, Armin Segref, Michael Stoiber, Andreas Unger, Paul Wolf, Jens Biesenbach

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 8241, High-Power Diode Laser Technology and Applications X; 824108 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.909189
Event: SPIE LASE, 2012, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

The demand for high-power and high-brightness fiber coupled diode laser devices is mainly driven by applications for solid-state laser pumping and materials processing. The ongoing power scaling of fiber lasers requires scalable fibercoupled diode laser devices with increased power and brightness. For applications in materials processing multi-kW output power with beam quality of about 30 mm x mrad is needed. We have developed a modular diode laser concept combining high power, high brightness, wavelength stabilization and optionally low weight, which becomes more and more important for a multitude of applications. In particular the defense technology requires robust but lightweight high-power diode laser sources in combination with high brightness. Heart of the concept is a specially tailored diode laser bar, whose epitaxial and lateral structure is designed such that only standard fast- and slow-axis collimator lenses in combination with appropriate focusing optics are required to couple the beam into a fiber with a core diameter of 200 μm and a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.22. The spectral quality, which is an important issue especially for fiber laser pump sources, is ensured by means of Volume Holographic Gratings (VHG) for wavelength stabilization. In this paper we present a detailed characterization of different diode laser sources based on the scalable modular concept. The optical output power is scaled from 180 W coupled into a 100 μm NA 0.22 fiber up to 1.7 kW coupled into a 400 μm NA 0.22 fiber. In addition we present a lightweight laser unit with an output power of more than 300 W for a 200 μm NA 0.22 fiber with a weight vs. power ratio of only 0.9 kg/kW.

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Bernd Köhler, Sandra Ahlert, Andreas Bayer, Heiko Kissel, Holger Müntz, Axel Noeske, Karsten Rotter, Armin Segref, Michael Stoiber, Andreas Unger, Paul Wolf, and Jens Biesenbach "Scalable high-power and high-brightness fiber coupled diode laser devices", Proc. SPIE 8241, High-Power Diode Laser Technology and Applications X, 824108 (8 February 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.909189

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