High power and high brightness diode-laser array for material processing applications
First Claim
Patent Images
1. Optical apparatus, comprising:
- a metal heat sink; and
a plurality of diode-laser assemblies, each of the assemblies including only one diode-laser and a thermally conductive electrically insulating sub-mount having first and second surfaces perpendicular to each other, the diode-laser characterized as having a fast-axis, a slow-axis perpendicular to the fast axis, and a propagation axis perpendicular to both the fast-axis and the slow axis, and being bonded to the first surface of the sub-mount; and
wherein each of the diode-laser assemblies is bonded via the second surface of the sub-mount thereof to the heat sink with the propagation axes of the diode-lasers being about parallel to each other and with fast-axes of the diode-lasers aligned in the fast-axis direction.
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Abstract
Arrangements for combination and fast-axis alignment of fast-axes of diode-laser beams are disclosed. Alignment arrangements include providing each diode-laser with a corresponding alignable fast-axis collimating lens, providing individually alignable mirrors for steering an re-orienting beams from each diode-laser, and providing single diode-laser slab-modules in which the diode-laser beams can be pre-aligned to a common propagation-axis direction, and in which edges and surfaces of the slabs can be used to align the fast and slow-axes of the beams. Beam combination methods include combination by dichroic elements, polarization-sensitive elements, and optical fiber bundles.
51 Citations
18 Claims
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1. Optical apparatus, comprising:
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a metal heat sink; and a plurality of diode-laser assemblies, each of the assemblies including only one diode-laser and a thermally conductive electrically insulating sub-mount having first and second surfaces perpendicular to each other, the diode-laser characterized as having a fast-axis, a slow-axis perpendicular to the fast axis, and a propagation axis perpendicular to both the fast-axis and the slow axis, and being bonded to the first surface of the sub-mount; and wherein each of the diode-laser assemblies is bonded via the second surface of the sub-mount thereof to the heat sink with the propagation axes of the diode-lasers being about parallel to each other and with fast-axes of the diode-lasers aligned in the fast-axis direction. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. Optical apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of pairs of diode-laser arrays, each diode-laser array including a plurality of diode-lasers, each diode-laser characterized as having a fast-axis, a slow-axis perpendicular to the fast axis, and a propagation axis perpendicular to both the fast-axis and the slow axis, with the diode-lasers in each of the arrays arranged, with propagation-axes thereof parallel to each other and with fast-axes of the diode-lasers aligned in the fast-axis direction, the diode-lasers in one array of each pair thereof having a different emitting wavelength from the diode-lasers in the other array of the pair, and the propagation axes of one diode-laser array in each pair being directed in a first direction, with the propagation axes of the other diode laser array in the pair being directed in a second direction at an angle to the first direction; and wherein a wavelength-sensitive optical element cooperative with each pair is arranged to combine beams from the diode-lasers in each array of the pair in a common direction. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. Optical apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of diode-laser array packages; each of the diode-laser array packages including a plurality of diode-laser arrays; each of the diode-laser arrays including a heat sink and a plurality of diode-laser assemblies, each of the assemblies including only one diode-laser and a thermally conductive electrically insulating sub-mount having first and second surfaces perpendicular to each other, the diode-laser characterized as having a fast-axis, a slow-axis perpendicular to the fast axis, and a propagation axis perpendicular to both the fast-axis and the slow axis, and being bonded to the first surface of the sub-mount, with each of the diode-laser assemblies being bonded via the second surface of the sub-mount to the heat sink, with the propagation axes of the diode-lasers being parallel to each other and with fast-axes of the diode-lasers aligned in the fast-axis direction; each of the diode-laser array packages including an optical arrangement for combining beams from the diode-laser arrays such that the combined beams propagate parallel to each other and aligned in the diode-laser fast axis direction; and each diode-laser array package having an optical focusing element and an optical fiber associated therewith, with the focusing element arranged to focus the combined beams from the package into a proximal end of the optical fiber, with distal ends of all of the optical fibers formed into a bundle. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. Optical apparatus, comprising:
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a thermally conductive metal base-plate having a mounting surface; a plurality of individual diode-laser packages each thereof including only one diode-laser mounted on a heat sink, the packages being mounted on the mounting surface of the base-plate via a thermally conductive but electrically insulating layer, each diode-laser having an emitting aperture from which a beam of laser radiation is emitted; the packages being arranged in pairs thereof with diode-lasers thereof arranged face-to-face and spaced apart with fast-axes of the diode-lasers parallel to the mounting surface of the base-plate, the packages being further arranged with propagation-axes of the diode-lasers parallel to each other, with the propagation-axes in one pair of packages opposed to the propagation-axes in the other, and interleaved such that beams emitted by the diode-lasers propagate about parallel to each other with adjacent ones thereof propagating in opposite directions with spacing between adjacent beams being less than the spacing between the diode-lasers in a pair of the packages; a plurality of cylindrical lenses one thereof associated with each diode-laser, each cylindrical leans being arranged to collimate the beam emitted by the diode-laser in fast-axis direction thereof; a plurality of mirrors mounted on the mounting surface of the base-plate each thereof associated with a corresponding one of the diode laser packages, the mirrors being arranged to reflect fast-axis collimated beams from the diode-lasers parallel to each other in the same direction perpendicular to the mounting surface of the base-plate with the fast-axes of the individual beams aligned in the fast-axis direction. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. Optical apparatus, comprising:
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a thermally conductive metal base-plate having a mounting surface; a plurality of individual diode-laser packages each thereof including only one diode-laser mounted on a heat sink, the packages being mounted on the mounting surface of the base-plate via a thermally conductive but electrically insulating layer, each diode-laser having an emitting aperture from which a beam of laser radiation is emitted; the packages being arranged in first and second groups thereof with fast-axes of the diode-lasers parallel to the mounting surface of the base-plate; first and second pluralities of mirrors mounted on the mounting surface of the base-plate, the first and second pluralities of mirrors being associated with respectively the first and second groups of diode-laser packages, the packages and mirrors in each group being arranged such that beams emitted from the diode-lasers and reflected from the mirrors propagate about parallel to each other and parallel to the mounting surface of the base-plate, with the beams in from the first and second groups of diode-laser packages propagating in opposite directions, and with any beam from the first group being adjacent a beam from the second group; and a further plurality of mirrors arranged to intercept the opposite-direction-propagating beams and reflect the beams such that the beams propagate in the same direction with the fast-axes of the beams aligned in the fast-axis direction. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification