News

30 October 2008

 

Alfalight receives $1.36m Army contract to develop 1kW laser pump

Alfalight Inc of Madison, WI, USA, which manufactures high-power diode lasers for industrial, defense and telecoms markets, has received a $1.36m contract from the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) in Adelphi, MD.

The firm says that the 12-month program High Brightness Diode Sources II (HiBriDS II) will enable it to extend the success of previous programs to create solid-state laser diode pump sources with higher brightness and reliability than current technology can provide. The objective is to demonstrate 1kW of 975nm narrowband, wavelength-locked diode laser light coupled into a 600 micron diameter fiber with a numerical aperture (NA) of 0.22.

Alfalight’s past performance in DARPA’s ADHELS (Architecture for Diode High Energy Laser Systems) and ARL's HiBriDS programs has allowed it to push both the spatial and spectral brightness of pump diodes by implementing brightness-enhancement and wavelength-stabilization technologies, says the firm’s VP of research and development Manoj Kanskar. “The extended scope of HiBriDS II will allow us to make a significant improvement to the brightness and power of cost- effective kilowatt-class pump modules,” he adds.

The new design will require less demanding manufacturing tolerances and fewer optical components to scale power, allowing resultant products to be more cost-effective and robust compared to fiber-coupled bars. Products from the HiBriDS II program will also combine Alfalight’s integrated wavelength-stabilization technology, high power-conversion efficiency, and proven packaging expertise to enable products requiring only industrial water cooling, rather than micro-channel cooling. Applications will include defense systems, commercial fiber-laser pumping, and solid-state laser pumping as well as direct-diode materials processing.

See related item:

Alfalight launches uncooled 10W 915nm pumps for industrial lasers

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