Quasi-passive heat sink for high-power laser diodes.pdf

Quasi-Passive Heat Sink for High-Power Laser Diodes John Vetrovec a a jvetrovec@ tel. (303) 681-0456 Aqwest LLC P.O. BOX 468, Larkspur, CO, USA ABSTRACT We report on a novel heat sink for high-power laser diodes offering unparalleled capacity in high-heat flux handling and temperature control. The heat sink uses a liquid coolant flowing at high speed in a miniature closed and sealed loop. Diode waste heat is received at high flux and transferred to environment, coolant fluid, heat pipe, or structure at a reduced flux. When pumping solid-state or alkali vapor lasers, diode wavelength can be electronically tuned to the absorption features of the laser gain medium. This paper presents the heat sink physics, engineering design, performance modeling, and configurations. Keywords: High-power laser diodes, thermal management, heat sink, heat spreader, solid-state laser, alkali vapor laser 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND High-power laser diodes (HPLD) are employed in a wide range of industrial applications such as pumping of solid-state lasers (SSL) and direct material processing; namely cutting, welding, and heat treating. Aerospace applications for HPLDs include electro-optical systems for field uses such as LIDAR, target illuminators, target designators, or high-energy lasers. HPLD bars are typically mounted on stackable miniature heat exchangers (HEX) cooled by ultra-pure liquid coolant such as deionized (DI) water. High coolant flow rates are required to obtain appropriate thermal management of the bars. HPLD temperature can be controlled by varying the coolant flowrate and/or temperature. In many applications, the conventional liquid cooling system and associated controls add undesirable complexity, size, and weight. We introduce an innovative heat sink for HPLD offering unparalleled capacity in high-heat flux handling and temperature control. The heat sink uses