Integrated Thermal Management and Wafer-Scale Packaging for High-Power VCSEL Diode Pump Arrays

The performance of diode pumped solid state lasers (DPSSLs) is often limited by the performance of the diode laser arrays used to pump the crystal. Of the components making up the DPSSL module, the diode laser arrays consume the most power, dissipate the most waste heat per unit area and are among the most costly to manufacture and qualify. The performance of the diode laser pump array is limited by the ability of the packaging to extract heat away from the laser’s active region, where the majority of the heat is generated. If the heat is not removed, the gain, and subsequently the output power and efficiency, of the entire DPSSL are decreased. Aerius Photonics proposes to develop a wafer-scale compatible process and packaging approach with improved thermal performance for high power Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) arrays. This approach will further improve the thermal performance and manufacturability of VCSEL technology and offer a 50% reduction in the laser diode heating by improving the waste heat transport and spreading from the semiconductor chip to the thermal management system.