Quasi-CW 110 kW AlGaAs Laser Diode Array Module for Inertial Fusion Energy Laser Driver

• Published in: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics Vol. 40; no. 12R; pp. 6852 - 6858
• Main Authors: Kawashima, Toshiyuki, Kanzaki, Takeshi, Matsui, Ken, Kato, Yoshinori, Matsui, Hiroki, Kanabe, Tadashi, Yamanaka, Masanobu, Nakatsuka, Masahiro, Izawa, Yasukazu, Nakai, Sadao, Miyamoto, Masahiro, Kan, Hirofumi, Hiruma, Teruo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• ISSN: 0021-4922; 1347-4065
• DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.40.6852

We have successfully demonstrated a large aperture 803 nm AlGaAs diode laser module as a pump source for a 1053 nm, 10 J output Nd:glass slab laser amplifier for diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) fusion driver. Detailed performance results of the laser diode module are presented, including bar package and stack configuration, and their thermal design and analysis. A sufficiently low thermal impedance of the stack was realized by combining backplane liquid cooling configuration with modular bar package architecture. Total peak power of 110 kW and electrical to optical conversion efficiency of 46% were obtained from the module consisting of a total of 1000 laser diode bars. A peak intensity of 2.6 kW/cm 2 was accomplished across an emitting area of 418 mm×10 mm. Currently, this laser diode array module with a large two-dimensional aperture is, to our knowledge, the only operational pump source for the high output energy DPSSL.