High-efficiency, high power laser diodes

Laser diodes and bars with high efficiency and power are used for a wide variety of applications including direct material processing and pumping fiber and solid state lasers. Efficient electro-optical. conversion is critical to achieve high output power as it allows to reduce dissipated heat and cooling load. This work presents progress achieved by JDSU in the DARPA Super High Efficiency Diode Sources (SHEDS) program. A highly efficient laser diode in the form of a single 100um wide emitter (910nm-980nm wavelength range) reaches 16.5W of CW power and more than 30W of pulsed power. Implementation of radically asymmetric waveguide structure, extensive optimization in doping, composition profiles resulted in more than 70% power conversion efficiency at a power of 80W from bars mounted and tested by different bar manufactures. The best bar power conversion efficiency achieved approaches 73% at 80W and 22°C cooling water.