Laser Diode Package With Segmented Anode Cooler
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-power laser systems face thermal-management issues, mechanical instability, and corrosion challenges due to increased operating temperatures and cooling fluid usage, limiting their reliability and performance.
Innovation Solution
A multi-component packaging system for laser diode bars featuring a two-piece anode cooler with a bottom and top cooler, utilizing high-thermal-conductivity materials like copper-tungsten alloys and tungsten carbide, and incorporating a cathode cooler for enhanced thermal management and mechanical stability, with textured impingement surfaces to optimize cooling efficiency and resist corrosion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If laser diodes are driven at increasingly higher currents to achieve higher laser powers, then power output is improved, but operating temperature increases causing thermal-management issues and reliability problems
Solution Approach 1:
The anode cooler is divided into two separate pieces (first anode cooler and second anode cooler) that can be independently optimized and assembled. This segmentation allows for better thermal management by creating distinct thermal zones and improving heat dissipation pathways without compromising the high current driving capability needed for high power output
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structures in the cooler assembly, combining materials with different thermal and mechanical properties. The first and second anode coolers are made from materials optimized for their specific functions, creating a composite thermal management system that can handle high operating temperatures while maintaining reliability
2Temperature
If highly thermally conductive mounts with enclosed cooling fluid passages are used, then thermal management is improved, but mechanical stability and corrosion resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system is segmented into two separate anode coolers rather than using a single enclosed mount. This eliminates the need for internal fluid passages that cause corrosion while maintaining effective thermal management through direct thermal contact between the segmented cooler pieces and the laser diode anode
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful enclosed fluid passages are extracted and removed from the design. Instead of routing cooling fluid through enclosed passages within the mount, the patent uses open cooling channels and direct thermal contact surfaces that eliminate corrosion risks while maintaining thermal efficiency
3Temperature
If cooling fluid passages are enclosed within the mount, then cooling efficiency is improved, but corrosion from cooling fluid increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling fluid passages are extracted from the enclosed mount structure and reconfigured as open channels in the first and second anode coolers. This extraction eliminates the enclosed environment that promotes corrosion while maintaining cooling efficiency through direct fluid contact with the cooler surfaces
Solution Approach 2:
The first and second anode coolers act as intermediary components between the laser diode and the cooling fluid. These intermediaries provide thermal management functionality while their segmented structure prevents direct corrosive interaction between the cooling fluid and the mount structure
4Device complexity
If a single-piece anode cooler is used, then device complexity is reduced, but thermal management efficacy and corrosion resistance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The anode cooler is segmented into two separate pieces that can be independently manufactured and optimized. This segmentation improves thermal management efficacy by allowing each piece to be tailored for specific thermal zones while the assembly process, though multi-step, remains relatively simple and does not significantly increase overall device complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively lowers junction temperatures, improves mechanical strength, and enhances reliability, enabling higher power output and reduced stress in high-power laser systems, while maintaining thermal performance and resisting deformation and corrosion.
Implementation Method 1
The impingement of the cooling fluid on this portion of the top anode cooler provides temperature control during operation of the laser emitter
Implementation Method 2
utilizing high-thermal-conductivity materials like copper-tungsten alloys and tungsten carbide
Data Source
AI summary
In various embodiments, a laser emitter such as a diode bar is cooled during operation via jets of cooling fluid formed by ports in a cooler on which the laser emitter is positioned. The jets strike an impingement surface of the cooler that is thermally coupled to the laser emitter but prevents direct contact between the cooling fluid and the laser emitter itself.