Advancements of ultra-high peak power laser diode arrays

Enhancements of laser diode epitaxy in conjunction with process and packaging improvements have led to the availability of 1cm bars capable of over 500W peak power at near-infrared wavelengths (770nm to 1100nm). Advances in cooler design allow for multi-bar stacks with bar-to-bar pitches as low as 350μm and a scalable package architecture enabled a single diode assembly with total peak powers of over 1MegaWatt of peak power. With the addition of micro-optics, overall array brightness greater than 10kW/cm 2 was achieved. Performance metrics of barbased diode lasers specifically engineered for high peak power and high brightness at wavelengths and pulse conditions commonly used to pump a variety of fiber and solid-state materials are presented.