High power, high brightness diode lasers for kW lasers systems

Laser diodes with high power and brightness are critical for pumping kW-class fiber lasers and direct diode laser systems. We present performance data of current generation broad area chips and new chips as well as multi-emitter fiber-coupled modules. Improved lateral beam quality at high power allows new designs to reach 15W power with lateral beam parameter product (BPP) <;4 mm-mrad. A fiber-coupled module that spatially and polarization combines multiple emitters shows a brightness of 3.4 W/(mm-mrad)2 at 185 W of power, which represents a 30% improvement over the present generation.