A new package structure for high power single emitter semiconductor lasers

High power semiconductor lasers have found increased applications in pumping solid state or fiber laser systems for industrial, military and medical applications as well as direct material processing applications. The reliability requirement for high power semiconductor lasers has been increased in recent years and it has been proven that indium-free packaging is one of the most effective ways in improving lifetime. The performance including reliability of high power semiconductor lasers is highly depended on the package structure. We have designed a new package structure for high power single emitter semiconductor lasers which is called F-mount. In contrast to traditional single emitter package structures, the F-mount offers indium-free packaging while improving or at least not sacrificing the thermal management. The heat sink of this new structure is insulated and easy for system integration. Finite element numerical analysis was used to compare the thermal resistance between F-mount structure and traditional structure. It was found that F-mount has high power and high electrical-to-output efficiency than the traditional structure. Lifetime testing was conducted on the F-mount devices and it was found that there was no obvious degradation in power over 7000 hours.