Ongoing progress in mass analysis applications such as laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry of solid samples and ultraviolet photoionization mediated sequencing of peptides and proteins is to a large extent driven by ultrashort wavelength excimer lasers at 193 nm. This paper will introduce the latest improvements achieved in the development of compact high repetition rate excimer lasers and elaborate on the impact on mass spectrometry instrumentation. Various performance and lifetime measurements obtained in a long-term endurance test over the course of 18 months will be shown and discussed in view of the laser source requirements of different mass spectrometry tasks. These sampling type applications are served by excimer lasers delivering pulsed 193 nm output of several mJ as well as fast repetition rates which are already approaching one Kilohertz. In order to open up the pathway from the laboratory to broader market industrial use, sufficient component lifetimes and long-term stable performance behavior have to be ensured. The obtained long-term results which will be presented are based on diverse 193 nm excimer laser tube improvements aiming at e.g. optimizing the gas flow dynamics and have extended the operational life the laser tube for the first time over several billion pulses even under high duty-cycle conditions.
Lasers for marking, direct application laser systems as well as high power solid state lasers require highly reliable, high
efficient and low cost laser diodes. Especially fiber lasers and direct diode systems have additionally the need for high
brightness. For a very long time either single emitter solutions with low brightness and costs or beam shaped bar
solutions with high brightness and high costs served those needs. Since roughly 2 years multiple single emitter solution
are more and more penetrating the market showing a high potential for serving all needs of a broad customer base.
Based on the 50W product introduced by the middle of 2009 we would like to show the design which is based on
qualified and highly stable single emitters.
For mounting FAC lenses to diode lasers a new technology is introduced. Solder jet ball bumping is demonstrated to
have the potential to replace conventional mounting technologies like adhesive bonding. The advantage of this method is
a thermally and mechanically stable connection of micro optics and laser without drawbacks of outgasing and sensitivity
to UV.
The reached accuracy is within the range of one micrometer.
Driven by the potential of the fiber laser market, the development of high brightness pump sources has been pushed
during the last years. The main approaches to reach the targets of this market had been the direct coupling of single
emitters (SE) on the one hand and the beam shaping of bars and stacks on the other hand, which often causes higher cost
per watt. Meanwhile the power of single emitters with 100μm emitter size for direct coupling increased dramatically,
which also pushed a new generation of wide stripe emitters or multi emitters (ME) of up to 1000μm emitter size
respectively "minibars" with apertures of 3 to 5mm. The advantage of this emitter type compared to traditional bars is
it's scalability to power levels of 40W to 60W combined with a small aperture which gives advantages when coupling
into a fiber.
We show concepts using this multiple single emitters for fiber coupled systems of 25W up to 40W out of a 100μm fiber
NA 0.22 with a reasonable optical efficiency. Taking into account a further efficiency optimization and an increase in
power of these devices in the near future, the EUR/W ratio pushed by the fiber laser manufacturer will further decrease.
Results will be shown as well for higher power pump sources. Additional state of the art tapered fiber bundles for
photonic crystal fibers are used to combine 7 (19) pump sources to output powers of 100W (370W) out of a 130μm
(250μm) fiber NA 0.6 with nominal 20W per port. Improving those TFB's in the near future and utilizing 40W per pump
leg, an output power of even 750W out of 250μm fiber NA 0.6 will be possible. Combined Counter- and Co-Propagated
pumping of the fiber will then lead to the first 1kW fiber laser oscillator.
Fiber lasers are pumped by fibercoupled, multimode single chip devices at 915nm. That’s what everybody assumes when asked for the type of fiber laser pumps and it was like this for many years.
Coming up as an amplifier for telecom applications, the amount of pump power needed was in the range of several watts. Highest pump powers for a limited market entered the ten watts range. This is a range of power that can be covered by highly reliable multimode chips, that have to survive up to 25 years, e.g. in submarine applications. With fiber lasers entering the power range and the application fields of rod and thin disc lasers, the amount of pump power needed raised into the area of several hundred watts. In this area of pump power, usually bar based pumps are used. This is due to the much higher cost pressure of the industrial customers compared to telecom customers. We expect more then 70% of all industrial systems to be pumped by diode laser bars. Predictions that bar based pumps survive for just a thousand hours in cw-operation and fractions of this if pulsed are wrong. Bar based pumps have to perform on full power for 10.000h on Micro channel heat sinks and 20.000h on passive heatsinks in industrial applications, and they do.
We will show a variety of data, “real” long time tests and statistics from the JENOPTIK Laserdiode as well as data of thousands of bars in the field, showing that bar based pumps are not just well suitable for industrial applications on high power levels, but even showing benefits compared to chip based pumps. And it’s reasonable, that the same objectives of cost effectiveness, power and lifetime apply as well to thin disc, rod and slab lasers as to fiber lasers. Due to the pumping of fiber lasers, examples will be shown, how to utilize bars for high brightness fiber coupling. In this area, the automation is on its way to reduce the costs on the fibercoupling, similar to what had been done in the single chip business. All these efforts are part of the JENOPTIK Laserdiode’s LongLifeTechnologie.
The successful use of high power diode lasers (HDL), which are based on 1 cm semiconductor bars, is critically linked to the optimization of output power, beam quality, reliability, and cost. Even though some criteria can be improved only on the costs of others, the common point of concern is the reliability. A defined reliability allows the user to estimate not only the investment costs but also all service and replacement costs. All those economical concerns can be translated into technical requirements. All efforts to fulfill these technical requirements are part of JENOPTIK Laserdiode’s LongLifeTechnology.
KEYWORDS: Semiconductor lasers, Heatsinks, Copper, High power lasers, Microfluidics, Semiconductor materials, High power diode lasers, Semiconductors, Solids
For the usage of diode lasers in industrial applications, customers ask today for expected lifetimes of more then 30.000 hours. To match the request for low costs per Watt as well, the output power has to be as high as possible. To achieve a maximum power out of a diode laser bar, heat removal must be extremely efficient. Today, micro channel heatsinks (MCHS) are the only way to achieve the high power level of 50W. But due to erosion/corrosion effects the lifetime of MCHS is limited at 15000...20.000 hours today. Finally we have to determine that for selected semiconductor materials not the semiconductor but the heatsink is limiting the expected lifetime of high power diode lasers today. Passive heat sinks based on solid copper are not limiting lifetime expectations in any way. But as cooling efficiency is lower, the power has to be reduced to a level of 30...40W. The first time ever, the JENOPTIK Laserdiode can present today a cooling technique that combines the passive cooling of a diode laser bar with the optical output a power of a bar, mounted on a MCHS. Using a special heat exchanger called DCB (patent pending) we were able to increase the power to 50W per bar while looking forward to extend the expected lifetime to more than 30.000 hours for selected materials. Restrictions on the quality of the water by means of deionization grade or PH- level are no longer necessary. The device is operating with regular water. The flow rate is as low as on MCHS, the pressure drop over the DCB is comparable. Additionally, the measurements will show an even lower thermal resistance compared to MCHS. The second generationof engineering samples is built up for pumping rows. A vertical stack design will be available for evaluating purposes soon. All these efforts are part of the JENOPTIK Laserdiode's LongLifeTechnology.
KEYWORDS: Semiconductor lasers, Heatsinks, Copper, Resistance, High power lasers, High power diode lasers, Laser marking, Oxides, Patents, Laser systems engineering
In order to achieve a thermally stable diode laser system based on high power diode laser bars, actively cooled heatsinks in form of micro channel heat sinks (MCHS) are used to face the power loss density of 106 W/m2 while requiring a minimum device volume. At identical junction temperature, passively cooled diode lasers are usually lower in power and the device volume is much higher due to the heat flux spreading design of passive heatsinks.
However, as a matter of principle, the cooling with MCHS sinks requires a sealing between the heat sink itself and the system around. This sealing is usually achieved by o-rings, what can never avoid the transfer of vapor from the cooling system into the vicinity of the diode laser. Extreme requirements on availability, which lead to corresponding lifetime requirements, like in telecom applications, already require passively cooled diode lasers without any water in the inner system boundaries.
For applications not requiring the extreme compact design volume of actively cooled diode lasers but requiring extreme lifetime or a minimum outlay on the periphery, we started looking into passively cooled diode laser stacks.
To achieve a minimized temperature rise in the junction, we already developed a new copper-based heat sink, spreading the power loss in an optimized manner.
Based on this heatsink, we started developing a heat exchanger with a low thermal resistance while keeping the water out of the inner system boundaries. The thermal resistance is low enough to run up to 12 passively cooled diode lasers on a low ambient temperature with a minimum of periphery requirements.
In order to achieve a thermally stable diode laser system based on high power diode laser bars, micro channel heat sinks are used to face the dissipated power with a density of 106 W/m2. Passively cooled diode lasers are either lower in power or facing higher junction temperatures. As a matter of principle the cooling with micro channel heat sinks requires a sealing between the heat sink itself and the system around. The leakage of this sealing, normally achieved by O-rings, can be reduced but never avoided. Sensible systems and extreme lifetime requirements, like in the telecom applications, already require passively cooled diode lasers with no water in the inner system boundaries. To achieve a minimized temperature shift in the junction, we developed a new copper based heat sink, spreading the dissipated heat in an optimised manner. Based on this, our further research shows that the higher temperature shift in a passive submount compared with active ones can be tolerated for a system, if the heat resistance to the external water heat exchanger is minimized.
For applications either with or without the requirement of a thermo electric cooling element (TEC), we developed a technical solution for a heat exchanger, to keep water out of the inner system boundaries. The thermal resistance is low enough to run up to 12 passively cooled diode lasers on an regular ambient temperature and a minimum of junction temperature mismatch.
KEYWORDS: Nd:YAG lasers, Semiconductor lasers, Diode pumped solid state lasers, Lamps, Diodes, Solid state lasers, Resonators, Rod lasers, High power lasers, Beam propagation method
High power diode pumped solid state lasers are attractive sources for various applications in material processing. One of the advantages of diode pumping of solid state lasers is the higher brilliance (maximum output power/poorest beam parameter product using equal plan-plane resonators) compared to arc lamp pumped solid state lasers.
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