II-VI launches 22W pump laser diodes for fiber lasers

Engineered materials and optoelectronic component maker II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA has launched a new generation of pump laser diodes that achieve a high output power of 22W from a single chip.

Fiber lasers have represented an improved cost of ownership for industrial materials processing over the last several years. Advances in the power of individual laser diodes further represent a cost advantage in laser systems. The new laser diodes achieve 22% more output power than the existing product, enabling fiber-laser designs with fewer emitters for applications such as cutting, welding, brazing and laser additive manufacturing.

“The pent-up demand for our new laser chips is strong and we’re beginning to ramp up production,” says Karlheinz Gulden, general manager, II-VI Laser Enterprise. “Customers increasingly rely on II-VI’s innovation in high-power semiconductor laser technology to produce the most competitive fiber lasers in terms of performance, reliability and cost,” he adds.

The 22W pump laser diodes are available at wavelengths of 915nm and 976nm. The laser chips feature a 190µm-wide output facet designed to achieve optimum coupling efficiency into the widely used 200µm-core fibers. The chips include II-VI’s proprietary E2 front-mirror passivation that prevents catastrophic damage to the laser, even at extremely high output powers. The new chip generation has completed qualification with 4000 hours of accelerated aging.

II-VI’s pump laser diodes are offered as bare dies, chips on ceramic sub-mount or in fiber-coupled multi-emitter modules.

The firm is showcasing its portfolio of engineered materials, lasers and optics for materials processing, life sciences, consumer electronics and automotive applications at the following conferences:

SPIE BIOS Expo 2019 (booth #8543) in San Francisco, CA (2-3 February), on biomedical optics;
SPIE Photonics West 2019 (booth #1840) in San Francisco, CA (5-7 February) on photonics; and
EALA - European Automotive Laser Applications 2019 (booth #3) in Bad Nauheim, Germany (12-13 February) on laser-based processes for future car body productions.

Tags: II-VI Inc Laser diodes

Visit: www.ii-vi.com/material-processing