Hamamatsu-photonics K.k.

Other

Hirofumi Miyajima

Hirofumi Kan

Akiyoshi Watanabe

Yujin Zheng

Nobutaka Suzuki

Kenichi Ueda

Masanobu Yamanaka

Takeshi Kanzaki

Nobuto Kageyama

Satoru Ooishi

Takayuki Uchiyama

Masaaki Matsuura

Toshimasa Matsuno

Syunichi Gonda

Akira Shirakawa

Toshio Naitoh

Hirokazu Ohta

A semiconductor laser baris mounted onto a liquid-cooled heat sink. A molybdenum reinforcement memberis fixed onto the surface opposite to the surface on which the semiconductor laser moduleis mounted. The molybdenum has a linear expansion coefficient less than that of the heat sink. Sub-mounts are preferably made of a Cu&#x2014;W alloy, more preferably of the reinforcement membermolybdenum. In this case, the stresses that are imposed on the heat sinkwhen being expanded or contracted can cancel each other out.

Semiconductor laser device

A heat sink has a first flat plate, a partition plate, and a second flat plate. The first flat plate has an upper surface in which a first recess is formed. The second flat plate has a lower surface in which a second recess is formed, and an upper surface on which a semiconductor laser element is mounted. These recesses form a part of a refrigerant channel. The partition plate has a lower surface covering the first recess, an upper surface covering the second recess, and at least one through hole having the first recess communicated with the second recess. The first flat plate and the second flat plate both have a first coefficient of thermal expansion. The partition plate has a second coefficient of thermal expansion lower than the first coefficient of thermal expansion.

Heat sink, laser apparatus provided with such heat sink, and laser stack apparatus

In an active layerof a semiconductor laser device, a refractive index type main waveguideis formed by a ridge portionof a p-type clad layer. Side surfacesandof the main waveguideform a relative angle &#x3b8;, based on a total reflection critical angle &#x3b8;c at the side surfacesand, with respect to a light emitting surfaceand a light reflecting surface. The main waveguideis separated by predetermined distances from the light emitting surfaceand the light reflecting surface, and optical path portionsand, for making a laser light Lpass through, are disposed between one end of the main waveguideand the light emitting surfaceand between the other end of the main waveguideand the light reflecting surface. The optical path portionsandare gain type waveguides and emit light components Land L, which, among the light passing through the optical path portionsand, deviate from a direction of a predetermined axis A, to the exterior. A semiconductor laser device and a semiconductor laser device array that can emit laser light of comparatively high intensity and can reduce side peaks are thereby realized.

Semiconductor laser device and semiconductor laser device array

The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser apparatus having a structure for preventing the corrosion of a refrigerant flow path in a heat sink and for cooling a semiconductor laser array stably over a long period of time. The semiconductor laser apparatus comprises a semiconductor laser stack in which a plurality of semiconductor laser units are stacked, a refrigerant supplier, a piping for connecting these components, and a refrigerant flowing through these components. The refrigerant supplier supplies the refrigerant to the semiconductor laser stack. The refrigerant is comprised of fluorocarbon. Each of the semiconductor laser units is constituted by a pair of a semiconductor laser array and a heat sink. The heat sink has a refrigerant flow path.

Semiconductor laser equipment

A laser apparatus () has a plurality of light sources (to) that include laser array stacks (to). Laser beams () are respectively deflected by a slit mirror () and a polarizing beam splitter () and synthesized with other laser beams (). These laser beams have optical axes that are inclined with respect to each other and slow axis directions that are mutually parallel. A converging optical system () converges the laser beams from the respective light sources at positions that are separated along a direction perpendicular to the slow axis directions.

Laser equipment

An optical condenser device has light sources () and an optical combiner (). Each light source () includes a semiconductor laser array stack (), collimator lenses (), and beam converters (). Since the optical combiner () combines the beams from one () of the stacks and the beams from the other (), a laser beam with high optical density is generated. The optical combiner () has transmitting portions () and reflecting portions (), each of which preferably has a strip-like shape elongated in the layering directions of the stacks (). In this case, the beams emitted from the active layers () will be received and combined appropriately by the optical combiner () even if positional deviation of the active layers () occurs.

Condenser

In this laser beam machine, while a pressing portionof an optical guide memberpresses a lidagainst a bodyof a container, the optical guide memberannularly guides a laser beam propagated through an optical fiberand outputs it from the pressing portion. Thereby, an annular processing region of the bodyand the lidis entirely irradiated with the laser beam at one time and the lidcan be joined to the body, whereby improving the working efficiency. Such improvement in working efficiency shortens the processing time and improves the production yield. Furthermore, this laser beam machinedoes not need to be separately provided with a rotating mechanism for laser beam scanning and a pressurizing mechanism for the bodyand the lid, so that construction of the machine can be significantly simplified.

Laser beam machine

A laser apparatus () has a semiconductor laser device (to), coolant jetting means (), and a heatsink (to). The semiconductor laser device has a light output surface () for emitting laser light. The coolant jetting means has a coolant chamber () for accommodating a coolant, an inflow port () communicating with the coolant chamber, and a jet port () opposing the light output surface of the laser device. The heatsink has a laser mount surface () for mounting the semiconductor laser device, and a flow path (to) where the coolant () jetted from the jet port flows in. When the coolant chamber is fed with the coolant, the jet port jets the coolant onto the light output surface of the semiconductor laser device. Since the light output surface is directly cooled by a jet flow of the coolant, cooling efficiency is excellent.

Laser device

The present invention relates to, for example, a semiconductor laser element capable of emitting laser beams having a small emitting angle efficiently with a simpler structure. The semiconductor laser element includes a first semiconductor portion, an active layer, and a second semiconductor portion. The first semiconductor portion has a ridge portion for forming a refractive index type waveguide region in the active layer. The waveguide region includes, at least, first and second portions having respective different total reflection critical angles at the side surfaces thereof. The first and second portions are arranged in such a manner that the relative angle of the side surfaces thereof to a light emitting surface and a light reflecting surface that are positioned at either end of the active layer is greater than the total reflection critical angle at the side surfaces. In this case, the relative angle of the side surfaces in the first portion to the light emitting surface and light reflecting surface is different from the relative angle of the side surfaces in the second portion to the light emitting surface and light reflecting surface.

Semiconductor laser device and semiconductor laser element array

This invention relates to a semiconductor laser apparatus having a structure to prevent corrosion in a refrigerant flow path of a heat sink and cool stably a semiconductor laser array over a long period. The semiconductor laser apparatus has a semiconductor laser stack, a refrigerant supplier, an insulating piping, and a refrigerant. The refrigerant supplier supplies the refrigerant to the semiconductor laser stack. The refrigerant is comprised of fluorocarbon. The insulating piping is an insulating piping with flexibility. An grounded conductive material is arranged inside the insulating piping. The conductive material operates to remove static electricity generated where the refrigerant flows inside the insulating piping.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser apparatus having a metal body which efficiently cools a semiconductor laser element, in which joining of copper-made members coated with DLC layers and prevention of corrosion in the vicinity of joined portions are possible. The semiconductor laser apparatus has a metal body as a heat sink for cooling the semiconductor laser element. The metal body is constituted by a plurality of copper-made members, and the surfaces of each copper-made members are continuously coated with a diamond carbon layer except for regions corresponding to an exposed region in which the semiconductor laser element is mounted.

An optical condenser device has light sources () and an optical combiner (). Each light source () includes a semiconductor laser array (), a collimator lens () and a beam converter (). The optical combiner () combines the beams from the light sources (). The spread of the beams in planes perpendicular to the direction of alignment of the active layers () is restrained by the refraction of the collimator lenses (). The transverse sections of the respective beams are rotated by substantially 90&#xb0; by the beam converters (). The spread of the beams in the direction of alignment of the active layers is thus restrained and crossing of adjacent beams becomes unlikely to occur.

Optical condenser device

A semiconductor laser devicecomprises: a heat sink, in turn comprising a main cooler unit, formed by joining metal members, a fluid channel, formed inside the main cooler unit, a cooling regionon an outer wall surface, and a resin layer, being continuously coated onto the outer wall surfaceand an inner wall surfacewith the exception of the cooling region; and a semiconductor laser element, positioned at the cooling regionwith thermal contact with the outer wall surfacebeing maintained. By continuously coating the outer wall surfaceand the inner wall surfacewith the resin layerwith the exception of the cooling region, prevention of corrosion near portions at which the outer wall surface and the inner wall surface contact each other is realized.

Semiconductor laser device and method of manufacturing the same

The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser element and the like which can efficiently emit laser beams at a small emission angle using a simpler configuration. The semiconductor laser element has a structure where an n-type cladding layer, active layer and p-type cladding layer are sequentially laminated. The p-type cladding layer has a ridge portion for forming a refractive index type waveguide in the active layer. The ridge portion, at least the portion excluding the edges, extends in a direction crossing each normal line of both end faces of the refractive index type waveguide, which corresponds to the light emitting face and light reflecting face respectively, at an angle &#x3b8;, which is equal to or less than the complementary angle &#x3b8;c of the total reflection critical angle on the side face of the refractive index type waveguide. The optical paths of light components which resonate in the refractive index type waveguide formed by the ridge portion having the above form are limited to optical paths where the lights are totally reflected on the side face of the refractive index type waveguide. In other words, the laser beams emitted from the light emitting end have a spatial horizontal single mode, and the waveguide width can be increased to further decrease the emission angle of the laser beams.

Semiconductor laser element and semiconductor laser element array

Fiber laser unitcomprises a plurality of fiber lasersandthat generate laser beams by exciting a laser active substance inside coresandby exciting light, propagate the laser beams inside the coresand, and output the laser beams from the end portionsand, wherein the respective fiber lasersandhave resonatorsandthat reflect the laser beams on both ends, andthereof and have a structure in which a part of the coresandis reduced in diameter, the diameter reduced portions of the coresandare made proximal to each other, injection synchronization is carried out inside the resonatorsandby laser beams leaked from the coresand, and a loss is applied to the port of either one of the fiber lasersand. According to this fiber laser unit, by a simple structure in which the coresandare made proximal to each other and injection synchronization is carried out by using laser beams leaked from the coresand, coherent addition of lasers with extremely high addition efficiency is realized.

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Hamamatsu, Japan

Hirofumi Miyajima