For cutting applications of sheet thicknesses up to 1 mm a compact diode laser system of high brilliance has been developed. By the combination of three different wavelengths as well as two polarization states six linear polarized diode laser bars are superimposed nearly without loss in beam quality. The maximum optical output power amounts to 155 W at a beam parameter product of about 22 mm mrad. The wavelength- and polarization-multiplexing is realized with one cemented optical component consisting of edge filters, a λ/4-retardation plate and a polarization beam splitter. The linear shaped beam of the six superimposed diode laser bars is symmetrized by micro step mirror beam shaping technology. Limited by manufacturing tolerances and particularly the mounting process of the diode laser bars, the system reaches the limits of incoherent beam multiplexing of six broad area diode laser bars. Combined with beam expanding and focussing optics, cutting experiments on different metallic and organic materials with sheet thicknesses ranging from 0.1 to 1 mm have been realized.For cutting applications of sheet thicknesses up to 1 mm a compact diode laser system of high brilliance has been developed. By the combination of three different wavelengths as well as two polarization states six linear polarized diode laser bars are superimposed nearly without loss in beam quality. The maximum optical output power amounts to 155 W at a beam parameter product of about 22 mm mrad. The wavelength- and polarization-multiplexing is realized with one cemented optical component consisting of edge filters, a λ/4-retardation plate and a polarization beam splitter. The linear shaped beam of the six superimposed diode laser bars is symmetrized by micro step mirror beam shaping technology. Limited by manufacturing tolerances and particularly the mounting process of the diode laser bars, the system reaches the limits of incoherent beam multiplexing of six broad area diode laser bars. Combined with beam expanding and focussing optics, cutting experiments on different metallic and organic materials wi...