Laminar Silicon Optical Bench for Efficient High Brightness Laser Coupling

Fiber coupled and semiconductor laser products have been widely used in many different applications including communications, material processing, medical surgery, aerospace, etc. Why haven't fiber optic and semiconductor laser use become more widespread given the wide variety of potential applications demonstrated to date? The answer is cost. What is a major cost driver of virtually all the potential applications? It's the tight aligment tolerances required between the micron sized laser sources and the optical components such as lenses and optical fibers which make such lasers useful. In this proposal, SDL, Inc. provides an innovative technology based on a planar fabricated silicon optical bench containing lenses, waveguides, single mode fibers, microchannel coolers and alignment marks. With an innovative optical component design, this new technology not only provides an efficient high brightness laser coupling, but also provides a low cost manufacturing method. Successful completion of this program will lead to the development and commercialization of a family of new low cost efficient fiber coupled laser products for a wide variety of applications. Anticipated Benefits/Potential Applications - This low cost manufacturing technology will provide a competitive edge to U.S. manufacturing of laser diode products. After successfully transferring into new products, it would directly impact the growth of industries such as material processing, communications, aerospace and medical surgery.