High power diode lasers in 7xx-nm region, have been needed for various applications. Compared to 9xx nm lasers that have been developed extensively in the last 20 years, high power lasers at 7xx-nm region presents much more challenges for operation power, efficiency, temperature performance and reliability. This paper will present recent progresses on 7xx nm laser diodes for the above attributes. Two laser designs will be reviewed and high power diode laser performance and reliability will be presented. Single emitter devices, with 200μm wide emitting width, show up to 10W reliable operation power, with peak efficiency more than 65%. Accelerated life testing at 12A, 50°C heatsink temperature has been running for thousands of hours. High temperature performance and high COMD threshold (> 20W) will also be shown. Life-test failure modes will also be discussed. In summary, with advanced epitaxial structure design and MOCVD process, critical facet passivation and advanced heatsink and bonding technology, 7xx-8xx nm devices have been demonstrated with high performance and reliability similar to those of 9xx nm devices.

A new class of high power high brightness 808 nm QCW laser diode mini bars has been developed. With nLight's nXLT facet passivation technology and improvements in epitaxial structure, mini bars of 3 mm bar width with high efficiency design have tested to over 280 W peak power with peak efficiency over 64% on conduction cooled CS packages, equivalent to output power density near 130 mW/μm. These mini laser bars open up new applications as compact, portable, and low current pump sources. Liftests have been carried out on conduction cooled CS packages and on QCW stacks. Over 370 million (M) shots lifetest with high efficiency design has been demonstrated on CS so far without failure, and over 80 M shots on QCW stacks with accelerated stress lifetest have also proven high reliability on mini bars with high temperature design. Failure analysis determined that the failure mechanism was related to bulk defects, showing that mini laser bars are not prone to facet failure, which is consistent with the large current pulse test and failure analysis on high power single emitters.

This paper presents reliable high power and high brightness 9xx-nm single emitter laser diodes, which have been designed for various multi-emitter fiber-coupled modules. Diode lasers from legend generation have been life-tested with currents up to 14A at heat-sink and junction temperatures of 50°C and 80°C respectively, and have accumulated more than 15,000 hours of life-test duration. In order to further improve reliable operational power and optimize beam quality, new generation devices have been developed. The new devices demonstrated more than 20W CW rollover power without catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD). Near-field/far-field patterns have also been improved significantly. In addition to step-stress life-tests, a 7-level multi-cell life-test was designed to investigate acceleration factors relative to the operation conditions. Junction temperatures ranging from 60°C to 110°C and current from 14A to 18A were used in this multi-cell life-test. The ongoing multi-cell life-test has accumulated 1.3 million raw device hours and shown very few device failures in up to 7000 hours duration. Such a low failure rate doesn't allow a meaningful estimation of acceleration factors. When nominal acceleration factors are used, multi-cell life-test data supports ∼500 FIT, with 90% confidence, at 10W, 33°C/50°C heat-sink/junction temperatures.

Performance, lifetest data, as well as failure modes from two different device structures will be discussed in this paper, with emitting wavelengths from 780nm to 800nm. The first structure, designed for high temperature operation, has demonstrated good reliability on various packages with output power up to 10W from a 200μm emitting area. The device structure can be operated up to 60°C heatsink temperatures under CW conditions. Then a high efficiency structure is shown with further improvement on operation power and reliability, for room temperature operation. With ongoing lifetest at 12A and 50°C heatsink temperature, <1000 FIT has been achieved for 6.5W and 33°C operation, on both designs. MTT10%F at 10W and 25°C operation is estimated to be more than 20,000 hours. Devices retain more than 20W rollover power under CW conditions, when re-tested after several thousand hours of accelerated lifetest. Paths for reliability improvement will also be discussed based on observed lifetest failure modes from these two structures.

We report on recent progress in the control of optical modes toward the improvement of commercial high-performance diode laser modules. Control of the transverse mode has allowed scaling of the optical mode volume, increasing the peak output power of diode laser emitters by a factor of two. Commercially-available single emitter diodes operating at 885 nm now exhibit >25 W peak (12 W rated) at >60% conversion efficiency. In microchannel-cooled bar format, these lasers operate >120 W at 62% conversion efficiency. Designs of similar performance operating at 976 nm have shown >37,000 equivalent device hours with no failures. Advances in the control of lateral modes have enabled unprecedented brightness scaling in a fiber-coupled package format. Leveraging scalable arrays of single emitters, the conductively-cooled nLIGHT PearlTM package now delivers >80 W peak (50 W rated) at >53% conversion efficiency measured from a 200-μm core fiber output and >45 W peak (35 W rated) at >52% conversion efficiency measured from a 100-μm fiber output. nLIGHT has also expanded its product portfolio to include wavelength locking by means of external volume Bragg gratings. By controlling the longitudinal modes of the laser, this technique is demonstrated to produce a narrow, temperature-stabilized spectrum, with minimal performance degradation relative to similar free-running lasers.

Applications such as direct pumping of rare-earth doped solid state and fiber lasers are driving development of higher power commercial diode lasers operating in the 1400 -nm to 2000 -nm band. In this work, we report on recent progress in high-power hard-soldered InGaAsP-based single emitter diode lasers. Peak continuous wave (CW) powers of 4 W, 2.3 W, and 1.4 W are measured at 25 degC for lasers operating at 1470 nm, 1700 nm, and 1940 nm, respectively. Quasi-continuous wave (QCW) power at 1700 -nm in excess of >10 W (peak) is reported from a single 150 -mum stripe emitter and >150W (peak) in a 16 emitter array configuration.

Peak CW optical power from single 1-cm diode laser bars is advancing rapidly across all commercial wavelengths and the available range of emission wavelengths also continues to increase. Both high efficiency similar to 50% and > 100-W power In P-based CW bars have been available in bar format around 1500-nm for some time, as required for eye-safe Illuminators and for pumping Er-YAG crystals. There is increasing demand for sources at longer wavelengths. Specifically, 1900-nm sources can be used to pump Holmium doped YAG crystals, to produce 2100-nm emission. Emission near 2100-nm is attractive for free-space communications and range-finding applications as the atmosphere has little absorption at this wavelength. Diode lasers that emit at 2100-nm could eliminate the need for the use of a solid-state laser system, at significant cost savings. 2100-nm sources can also be used as pump sources for Thulium doped solid-state crystals to reach even longer wavelengths. In addition, there are several promising medical applications including dental applications such as bone ablation and medical procedures such as opthamology. These long wavelength Sources are also key components in infra-red-counter-measure systems. We have extended our high performance 1500-nm material to longer wavelengths through optimization of design and epitaxial growth conditions and report peak CW Output powers from single 1-cm diode laser bars of 37W at 1910-nm and 25W at 2070-nm. 1-cm bars with 20% fill factor were tested under step-stress conditions Lip to 110-A per bar without failure, confirming reasonable robustness of this technology. Stacks Of Such bars deliver high powers in a collimated beam suitable for Pump applications. We demonstrate the natural spectral width of similar to 18nm of these laser bars can be reduced to < 3-nm with use of an external Volume Bragg Grating, as required for pump applications. We review the developments required to reach these powers, latest advances and prospects for longer wavelength, higher power and higher efficiency.

Diode lasers supply high power densities at wavelengths from 635-nm to 2000-nm, with different applications enabled by providing this power at different wavelengths. As the range of available wavelengths broadens, many novel medical and atmospheric applications are enabled. Traditional quantum well lasers provide high performance in the range 635- nm to 1100-nm range for GaAs-based devices and 1280-nm to 2000-nm for InP, leaving a notable gap in the 1100 to 1280-nm range. There are many important medical and sensing applications in this range and quantum dots produced using Stranski-Krastanow self-organized MBE growth on GaAs substrates provide an alternative high performance solution. We present results confirming broad area quantum dot lasers can deliver high optical powers of 16-W per emitter and high power conversion efficiency of 35% in this wavelength range. In addition, there are growing applications for high power sources in wavelengths > 1500-nm. We present a brief review of our current performance status in this wavelength range, both with conventional quantum wells in the 1500-nm to 2500-nm range and MOCVD grown quantum cascade lasers for wavelengths > 4000-nm. At each wavelength, we review the designs that deliver this performance, prospects for increased performance and the potential for further broadening the availability of novel wavelengths for high power applications.

Focused development under the DARPA SHEDs program has lead to extremely high power conversion efficiency in the 9xx-nm wavelength band, leading to bars with efficiency in excess of 74%. We review progress in advancing efficiency and detail the route to > 85% at room temperature. The 9xx-nm wavelength band is commercially used for pumping Ytterbium-doped solid-state crystals and fiber lasers - only one of many diode laser markets. Fortunately, the lessons learned under SHEDs are transferable to other wavelengths. We report breakthrough efficiency results in the 8xx-nm band, for example showing 71% power conversion efficiency from 790-nm bars at powers > 100-W for CW and QCW packaging and testing. These wavelengths are required for pumping Neodymium-doped crystals, as used in the majority of fielded high power Diode Pumped Solid-State Laser systems. High efficiency is delivered using low voltage SHEDs designs, in combination with work to optimize the performance of the quantum well.

Peak optical power from single 1-cm diode laser bars is advancing rapidly across all commercial wavelengths. Progress to date has allowed us to demonstrate > 400-W peak output from single 1-cm diode laser bars at emission wavelengths from 800-nm to 980-nm. The available range of emission wavelengths has also been increased, with 90-W bars shown at 660-nm, 37W at 1910-nm and 25W at 2070-nm, complementing the 100-W bar previously demonstrated at 1470-nm. Peak power is seen to correlate closely peak power conversion efficiency. Further advances in diode laser efficiency and low thermal resistance packaging technology continue to drive these powers higher. The most critical improvements have been the reduction in the diode laser operating voltage through optimization of hetero-barriers (leading to 74% efficient 100-W bars on micro-channel at 975-nm) and a reduction in packaging thermal resistance by optimizing microchannel performance (leading to < 0.2-degrees C/W thermal resistance). We have also recently extended our high efficiency designs to shorter wavelengths, now delivering over 70% efficiency at 790-nm. Ever-increasing power levels (projected to eventually exceed 1-kW per bar) reduce the cost in Euro per W of diode laser systems, enabling broader application in military, industrial and medical markets. In addition, increasing availability of high powers at new wavelengths is enabling many new applications.

Peak optical power from single 1-cm diode laser bars is advancing rapidly across all commercial wavelengths. Progress in material performance is reviewed and we show that current trends imply there is no fundamental barrier to achieving peak powers of 1-kW per 1-cm diode laser bar. For bars with such high peak powers, commercially available reliable devices would be expected to deliver ~ 300-W per bar. Progress to date has allowed us to demonstrate > 400-W peak output from single 1-cm diode laser bars at emission wavelengths from 800-nm to 980-nm. The available range of emission wavelengths has also been increased, with 90-W bars shown at 660-nm and 24W at 1900-nm, complementing the 100-W bar previously demonstrated at 1470-nm. Peak power is seen to correlate closely peak efficiency. Further advances in diode laser efficiency and low thermal resistance packaging technology continue to drive these powers higher. The most critical improvements have been the reduction in the diode laser operating voltage through optimization of hetero-barriers (leading to 73% efficient 100-W bars on copper micro-channel) and a reduction in packaging thermal resistance by optimizing micro-channel performance (leading to < 0.2-oC/W thermal resistance).

High power GaAs-based high power diode bars produce wavelengths in the range of 780 to 980 nm and are widely used for pumping a broad range of rare earth doped solid-state lasers. As the markets for these laser systems mature, diode lasers that operate at higher power levels, greater overall efficiency, and higher reliability are in high demand. In this paper we report efficiencies of over 70% in the 9xx-nm band, continuous wave power levels over 340 Watts in the 8xx-nm band, and reliability data at or above 100 Watts. We will also review the latest advances in performance and detail the basic physics and material science required to achieve these results.

Through careful optimization of electrical and optical characteristics, broad area laser diodes deliver wall-plug in excess of 76% and powers in excess of 100W across the 9xx-nm band. Cryogenic testing of single emitter devices delivers peak efficiency of 85%, confirming there is no fundamental physical limit to reaching extremely high device efficiency. Further optimization and more radical structures show a clear path to efficiencies in excess of 80% even at room temperature.Combining a high efficiency bar with an optimized heat-sink shows the potential for reaching peak CW powers in excess of 1-kW per single 1-cm diode bar. These power levels are comparable to more conventional CO2 lasers, with the potential to be available at significantly lower prices.

Operation of 808-nm laser diode pumps at elevated temperature is crucial to many applications. Reliable operation at high power is limited by high thermal load and low catastrophic optical mirror damage (COMD) threshold at elevated temperature range. We demonstrate high efficiency and high power operation at elevated temperatures with high COMD power. These results were achieved through device design optimization such as growth conditions, doping profile, and materials composition of the quantum-well and other layers. Electrical-to-optical efficiency as high as 62 percent was obtained through lowered threshold current and lowered series resistance and increased slope efficiency. The performance of single broad-area laser diodes scales to that of high power single bars on water-cooled copper micro-channel heatsinks or conductively-cooled CS heatsinks. No reduction in bar performance or significant spectral broadening is seen when these micro-channel coolers are assembled into 6-bar and 18-bar cw stacks for the highest power levels.

We report on recent progress in the control of optical modes toward the improvement of commercial high-performance diode laser modules. Control of the transverse mode has allowed scaling of the optical mode volume, increasing the peak output power of diode laser emitters by a factor of two. Commercially-available single emitter diodes operating at 885 nm now exhibit >25 W peak (12 W rated) at >60% conversion efficiency. In microchannel-cooled bar format, these lasers operate >120 W at 62% conversion efficiency. Designs of similar performance operating at 976 nm have shown >37,000 equivalent device hours with no failures. Advances in the control of lateral modes have enabled unprecedented brightness scaling in a fiber-coupled package format. Leveraging scalable arrays of single emitters, the conductively- cooled nLIGHT Pearl™ package now delivers >80 W peak (50 W rated) at >53% conversion efficiency measured from a 200-μm core fiber output and >45 W peak (35 W rated) at >52% conversion efficiency measured from a 100-μm fiber output. nLIGHT has also expanded its product portfolio to include wavelength locking by means of external volume Bragg gratings. By controlling the longitudinal modes of the laser, this technique is demonstrated to produce a narrow, temperature-stabilized spectrum, with minimal performance degradation relative to similar free-running lasers.

Peak optical power from single 1-cm diode laser bars is advancing rapidly across all commercial wavelengths. Progress to date has allowed us to demonstrate > 400-W peak output from single 1-cm diode laser bars at emission wavelengths from 800-nm to 980-nm. The available range of emission wavelengths has also been increased, with 90-W bars shown at 660-nm. Peak power is seen to correlate closely to peak efficiency. Further advances in diode laser efficiency and low thermal resistance packaging technology continue to drive these powers higher. The most critical improvements have been the reduction in the diode laser operating voltage through optimization of hetero-barriers (leading to 73% efficient 100-W bars on copper micro-channel) and a reduction in packaging thermal resistance by optimizing micro-channel performance (leading to < 0.2-°C/W thermal resistance).