Diodes and Side Pumping

Highly Reliable Laser Diodes

IPG single emitter diodes are manufactured using telecom-proven technology and processes, and each wafer is qualified to rigorous telecommunication industry standards, which sets IPG apart from alternative industrial pump products using short-lived diode bars and bar-stack technologies. As a result, IPG single emitter diodes offer an order of magnitude higher pumping brightness and up to double the power efficiency of bar-stack pumps. Single emitter pumps are able to use simple water or even forced air cooling, as opposed to bars-stacks which require expensive, unreliable and complex microchannel coolers using high pressure deionized water.

IPG single emitter diode lifetimes exceed many thousand hours, orders  of magnitude longer than the measured lifetimes of bar-stack alternatives. Unlike traditional alternatives, frequent on/off modulation of IPG diodes does not affect anticipated lifetime. IPG pumps are hermetically sealed to telecom standards, so are unaffected by the most aggressive industrial environments including humidity, dust and vibration. The exceptionally high reliability of IPG single emitter pumps is proven in laboratories and substantiated by excellent field reliability realized by customers worldwide..

Innovative Side-pumping Technique Converts Multi-mode Diode Light into Single-mode Fiber Laser Light

The multi-mode output of broad-area single emitter diodes is collected into fibers with core diameters as small as 100 microns. Using the side-pumping technique developed by Dr. Valentin Gapontsev and Dr. Igor Samartsev, the light from many pump diodes is efficiently coupled into the cladding of an active gain fiber. The pump light undergoes multiple reflections within the cladding while frequently intersecting the single-mode core, where the pump is absorbed and re-emitted by rare-earth ions. This elegant brightness mechanism converts multi-mode diode light into single-mode fiber laser light with exceptional efficiency.