nLIGHT, Inc.

A laser diode package, comprising a housing having a metal base portion, an integrated heat spreader formed within the base, the integrated heat spreader comprising a first phase-change material (PCM) and configured to dissipate heat via phase-change cooling. A heat source may be disposed on a top surface of the base, the heat source may be thermally coupled to the integrated heat spreader so as to dissipate heat away from the heat source via phase-change cooling.

Some embodiments may include a laser diode having a strain-engineered cladding layer for optimized active region strain and improved laser diode performance. In one embodiment, the laser diode may include a semiconductor substrate having a material composition with a first lattice constant; and a plurality of epitaxy layers form on the semiconductor substrate, with plurality of epitaxy layers including a waveguide layer and cladding layers, wherein the waveguide layer includes an active region having a material composition associated with a target optical wavelength, wherein a second lattice constant of the material composition of the active region is different than the first lattice constant; wherein a material composition and/or thickness of an individual cladding layer of the cladding layers is/are arranged to impart a target stress field on the active region to optimize active region strain. Other embodiments may be disclosed and/or claimed.

An edge-emitting semiconductor broad area laser includes a chip, an emitter disposed on the chip, a grating structure disposed on the emitter, and a metal layer disposed on the grating structure. When operational, the emitter emits laser light from the first end thereof. The grating structure includes a plurality of grooves that exhibit progressively larger radii of curvature between the first end and the second end.

An imaging optic includes a first end to receive laser light, an exterior, and a second end; an acoustic transmitter acoustically coupled to a first side of the exterior of the imaging optic; an acoustic absorber acoustically coupled to a second opposite side of the exterior of the imaging optic; a waveguide having a first end to receive an output from the second end of the imaging optic, a first core section, a second section, and a second end, wherein acoustic waves output from the acoustic transmitter are arranged to diffract a first order beam from the laser light in the imaging optic; wherein the first order light is selectively output from the second end of the imaging optic into one of the sections of the waveguide.

A fiber connector bulkhead adapter for coupling a fiber connector to bulkhead optics is configured to inhibit back reflections from damaging a laser system. The adapter includes a bore sized to receive a fiber ferrule of a fiber connector, a mounting base having a centrally located shroud, and an aperture between the end of the bore and the shroud.

Apparatus include a first laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet along an optical axis, the beam as emitted having perpendicular fast and slow axes perpendicular to the optical axis, a first fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the first laser diode, a second laser diode situated to emit a beam from an exit facet of the second laser diode along an optical axis parallel to the optical axis of the first laser diode and with a slow axis in a common plane with the slow axis of the first laser diode, and a second fast axis collimator (FAC) optically coupled to the beam as emitted from the exit facet of the second laser diode and configured to direct the beam along a redirected beam axis having a non-zero angle with respect to the optical axis of the second laser diode.

Some embodiments may include an optical assembly usable to process light output from a laser source. The apparatus may include a housing to receive a distal end of an optical fiber that outputs the laser light; one or more actively cooled or passively cooled beam traps contained within the housing or coupled to the housing; and one or more optical apertures located inside the housing, at least one of the optical apertures to define a numerical aperture (NA) of a first portion of the laser light based on a radial dimension of the at least one optical aperture, the at least one optical aperture arranged to pass the first portion of the light and redirect a second different portion of the laser light to the one or more actively cooled or passively cooled beam traps. Other embodiments may be disclosed and/or claimed.

Various embodiments provide apparatuses, systems, and methods related to a dual-sided optical package. The package may include a base plate with a first side and a second side opposite the first side. The base plate may have a coolant channel positioned between the first side and the second side. A first set of optics may be coupled with the first side of the base plate, and a second set of optics may be coupled with the second side of the base plate. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.

Some embodiments may include a fiber laser including two or more input fibers and an output fiber to deliver a beam to a workpiece, the fiber laser comprising. The fiber laser may include a combiner having ends and a length, wherein the combiner is arranged to release, from its length, a portion of back-reflected light received from the output fiber at an output end of the ends from the combiner, the combiner including: a capillary tube to enclose part of the two or more input fibers at an input end of the ends of the combiner, the capillary tube having ends and a length located between the ends of the capillary tube; and a cladding light stripper (CLS) defined by part of the length of the capillary tube, wherein the CLS provides the release of the portion of the back-reflected light. Other embodiments may be disclosed and/or claimed.

The disclosed diode laser packages include a carrier having an optics-mounting surface to which first and second sets of collimating and turning optics are mounted. The carrier includes a heatsink receptacle medially located between the first and second sets. A cooling plenum has a diode-mounting surface and includes heatsink material disposed in the heatsink receptacle. The cooling plenum further has an inlet, an outlet, and a coolant passageway defined between the inlet and the outlet. The coolant passageway is sized to receive the heatsink material disposed in heatsink receptacle. Multiple semiconductor laser diode devices are each mounted atop the diode-mounting surface and positioned for bidirectional emission toward the first and second sets of collimating and turning optics. The multiple semiconductor laser diode devices are thermally coupled to the heatsink material through which coolant is deliverable by the coolant passageway.