Alfalight has signed a $1.36m contract from the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).
This 12-month programme, entitled ‘High Brightness Diode Sources II’ (HiBriDS II), will see Alfalight creating solid state laser diode pump sources with high brightness and reliability for the ARL.
The objective of the programme is to demonstrate 1 kW of 975nm narrowband, wavelength-locked diode laser light coupled into a 600μm, 0.22 NA fibre.
The new design will require less-demanding manufacturing tolerances and fewer optical components to scale power, allowing resultant products to be more cost-effective and robust compared to fibre-coupled bars. Products resulting from the HiBriDS II program will also combine Alfalight’s integrated wavelength stabilisation technology, high power conversion efficiency, and proven packaging expertise to enable products requiring only industrial water cooling, rather than micro-channel cooling.
Applications will include defense systems, commercial fibre laser pumping, and solid-state laser pumping as well as direct-diode materials processing.
