OSRAM Opto Semiconductors Announces Laser Bar Breakthrough

San Jose, CA -- OSRAM Opto Semiconductors announced its laser bars have set a new world efficiency record of 808 nanometers (nm) at an optical output of 120 watts (W). This breakthrough was achieved in concert with laser specialists DILAS Diodenlaser GmbH. The two companies have combined their technology expertise as part of the BRILASI (Brilliant High-Power Laser Diodes for Industrial Applications) research project. OSRAM and DILAS have a history of combined efforts in the field of high-power diode lasers and have developed close cooperation in the development of semiconductor chip material and structures.

The BRILASI project was initiated by the Association of German Engineers, an agency of the German Ministry for Education and Research, to develop highly efficient and reliable diode lasers for industrial applications. OSRAM Opto Semiconductors serves as the project's coordinator. Additional members of the project team include laser system specialists and representatives from research institutes.

These high-performance laser bars are prototypes for a new generation of diode lasers and are designed primarily to pump solid-state lasers in applications such as automobile industry welding. New, more powerful lasers enable increased system output with the same service life or smaller, more reliable systems with the same output. Applications previously reserved exclusively for solid-state lasers (such as surface processing) are also now possible with diode lasers.

"With output of 120 W, these new lasers will double the value achieved for current 808 nm wavelength solutions," said Ellen Sizemore, North American director, LED and IR Products Group, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors. "This ten-percent efficiency increase is a direct result of the combined efforts of OSRAM's expertise in chip fabrication and DILAS' skills in assembly and cooling systems."

SOURCE: OSRAM Opto Semiconductors