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At last week’s Photonics West event, high-power diode laser maker Alfalight Inc of Madison, WI, USA announced the availability of engineering samples of three new series of laser pump sources.

10W 940nm pump diodes in uncooled package

The AM6-940B series of laser pump diodes provide 10W of 940nm light output with a high-brightness 105µm 0.15 NA fiber.

To simplify PCB mounting, the single-emitter laser diode is available in an uncooled, compact 6-pin telecom-grade package that includes a temperature-monitoring thermistor. Target industrial markets include pumping fiber lasers, diode-pumped solid-state lasers, uncooled fiber amplifiers, and direct material processing.

Alfalight is leveraging its experience with high-reliability telecom devices to deliver what is claimed to be exceptional uncooled lifetime in a small form factor, says Bechtold. “This is the first of a family of 9XXnm 10W devices that we will introduce in 2008, as we continue to drive down the $/W ratio.”

5W 808nm pump diodes with integrated wavelength stabilization

The AM6-808B and AM6-808BW laser pump diodes provide 5W of 808nm light output with a 200µm 0.15NA fiber, extending recent advances achieved in the DARPA-sponsored Super High Efficiency Diode Sources (SHEDS) development program.

The single-emitter laser diodes are available in both standard 808±3nm and integrated wavelength-stabilization technology (WST) 808±1.5nm versions (AM6-808B-60-503 and AM6-808BW-60-501, respectively), and in a 6-pin industrial-grade package that includes a temperature-monitoring thermistor.

Alfalight’s proprietary WST integrates a holographically defined semiconductor grating at the wafer level to control wavelength drift to just 0.07nm/°C (versus 0.3nm/°C for the standard version). The stable ‘wavelength locking window’ is typically 30-40°C wide and spans the operating power range of the device, allowing uncooled operation in a tighter bandwidth and narrow spectrum over a wide temperature range. Due to the highly optimized monolithic design, the efficiency and reliability are on a par with non-stabilized devices without the added cost or complexity of external-grating approaches.

Target markets for the small-footprint device include: microlasers for projection and display systems; small, high-reliability diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers; and small-form-factor green lasers.

“The rapid extension of our successful SHEDS and WST programs enables us to broaden our offering of innovative, high-efficiency, high-power commercial devices,” said VP of sales & marketing Ron Bechtold.

Wavelength-stabilized 30W 808nm laser modules for air-cooled DPSS lasers

The AC3-808B and AC3-808BW series of fiber-laser pump sources, packaged in third-generation CPM III combined power modules, combine seven single-emitter laser diodes to deliver 30W of 808nm light output.

The modules are available in both a standard BAL 808±3nm (AC3-808B-68-303) versions and an integrated WST 808±1.5nm (AC3-808BW-68-301) version, which allows air-cooled operation.

Packaged in a 3.35” x 2.73” x 0.67” lightweight aluminum case (with an attached 1m armored cable with SMA905 optical output connector), the compact modules include a thermistor for temperature monitoring

The stabilized performance of the 808nm WST diodes enables greatly extended reliability, says Bechtold. The CPM III modules provide over 20,000 hours mean-time-to-failure (MTTF) and do not suffer the catastrophic failure mode inherent in conventional bar-based emitters, says the firm. The new modules enable the upgrade of existing fiber-coupled bar-based DPSS laser systems or a move to new lower-cost air-cooled designs, Bechtold adds. Use of a 685µm fiber bundle with 0.15 NA gives higher brightness and easy incorporation into existing fiber-coupled bar-based 0.22 NA systems.

Target markets include industrial end-pumped DPSS lasers for Nd:YAG or Nd:YVO4 systems for end uses such as material cutting and processing, light welding, marking and printing.

Production volumes of all laser pump diodes will ship in March.

*At the Photonics West conference, VP of R&D Manoj Kanskar gave a presentation on “Wavelength-Stabilized and Spectrally Narrowed, High-Power, High-Efficiency 808nm and 975nm Diode Laser Pumps”.

See related items:

Alfalight launches 808nm wavelength-stabilized lasers for wide-temperature-range systems

Alfalight wins $1.7m US Army contract to develop high-power fiber-laser pump modules

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Visit: www.alfalight.com