Thermal Management System for Solid State Lasers

Many of the state of the art laser diodes and solid-state lasers currently use cooling systems that are limited to less than 100W/cm2. Significant improvements in the heat flux capabilities of the thermal management system would allow these devices to be much more compact. Better cooling and load leveling during periods of peak usage will make these devices suitable for many airborne and/or spaceborne applications. Through the use of advanced high-heat flux cooling techniques, the heat flux can be increased to 500-1000 W/cm2 enabling significant improvements in the device output power, size and mass. kTC proposes the development of a laser packaging concept combining two innovative technologies: copper encapsulated Annealed Pyrolytic Graphite (APG) and phase change material.