Coherent Beam Combination (CBC) is used for Laser Directed Energy Weapons (LDEW) because of its power scalability and ability to produce high quality, low-divergence output beams capable of high-speed compensation for atmospheric turbulence. Traditional CBC optical arrays, comprised of many individual optics, suffer from mechanical and thermal stability issues as power levels and size increase. PowerPhotonic monolithic lens arrays offer a robust, scalable solution that simplifies system alignment and offers the mechanical and thermal stability required to succeed at current and future LDEW power levels. Unique manufacturing techniques allow PowerPhotonic to continue to increase the form factor of these monolithic arrays to keep up with power scaling requirements. Newly implemented tools have demonstrated a 4x increase in clear aperture capability with room for further improvement with more mechanical modifications to the manufacturing system. Large monolithic lens arrays have the power handling and dense packing capabilities to support LDEW systems aiming to achieve megawatts of coherently combined power and beyond.
We report on the high-power high-temperature long-pulse performance of the 8XX-nm diode laser bars and arrays, which
were recently developed at Lasertel Inc. for diode laser pumping within high-temperature (130 °C) environment without
any cooling. Since certain energy in each pulse is required, the diode laser bars have to provide both high peak power
and a nice pulse shape at 130 °C. Optimizing the epi-structure of the diode laser, the laser cavity and the distribution of
waste heat, we demonstrate over 40-millisecond long-pulse operation of the 8XX-nm CS bars at 130 °C and 100 A.
Pumping the bar with 5-Hz frequency 15-millisecond rectangular current pulses, we generate over 60 W peak power at
100 A and 130 °C. During the pulse duration, the pulse shape of the CS bars is well-maintained and the power almost
linearly decays with a rate of 1.9% peak power per millisecond at 130 °C and 100 A. Regardless of the pulse shape, this
laser bar can lase at very high temperature and output pulse can last for 8 ms/2ms at 170 °C/180 °C (both driven by 60 A
current pulses with 5-Hz frequency, 10 millisecond pulse width), respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the
highest operating temperature for a long-pulse 8XX-nm laser bar. Under the condition of 130 °C and 100 A, the laser bars
do not show any degradation after 310,000 10-millisecond current pulse shots. The performance of stack arrays at 130 °C
and 100 A are also presented. The development of reliable high-temperature diode laser bar paves the way for diode
laser long-pulse pumping within a high-temperature environment without any cooling.
This paper gives an overview of recent development of high-efficiency 50-W CW TE/TM polarized 808-nm diode laser
bar at Lasertel. Focused development of device design and MBE growth processes has yielded significant improvement
in power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 50-W CW TE/TM polarized 808-nm laser bars. We have achieved CW PCEs of
67 % to 64 % at heat-sink temperature of 5 °C and 25 °C, respectively. Ongoing life-testing indicates that the reliable
powers of devices based on the new developments exceed those of established, highly reliable, production designs.
In this paper we present the use of high power diode arrays, spectrally stabilised using chirped Volume Bragg Gratings
as a pump source for a Nd:YAG based laser. The temperature dependant performance of a series of different stabilised
diodes, and the side pumped Nd:YAG slab resonator was measured over a 55°C temperature range. The best performing
stabilised LDAs exhibited Q-switched output energy consistent over 80% of the temperature range, and drop off by 40%
at the higher temperature extremes. Beam parameters of the laser such as divergence were found to drop in combination
with input energy. Factors such as spectral drifting of the diodes are also considered and the effect on the resonator is
characterised.
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