As part of its development contract with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Quantel has delivered a first module of laser diodes for the pumping at high energy and high repetition frequency.

In the frame of the « Gigashot Optical Laser Demonstrator (GOLD) » at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California, QUANTEL has successfully passed the acceptance test of the first diode array, equipped with QCW diodes.

The device delivered to LLNL delivers up to 126 kW peak power and can be configured to deliver 150 kW peak power and 6 kW average power.

The array emits at 880 nm with only 3 nm spectral width (FWHM).

Despite the very high level of complexity of such an intense energy diode source, the acceptance of the array by LLNL team has been passed under original schedule and specification.

A second array will be delivered by September. A team from Quantel Laser Diodes team will work with people from LLNL to start operating the arrays at LLNL l.

This array has been qualified to operate at 120Hz repetition rate and lifetime test data projects a lifetime of far over 4 Gshots.

More than 400 bars have been used and individually collimated. Each bar can provide up to 500W peak power. The stacks are actively cooled by a mix of water-alcohol in order to allow an operating temperature from 20°C to -15°C.

The wall-plug efficiency has been measured above 65% at ambient temperature, corresponding to the state of the art for QCW diodes at this wavelength.

Volume is only 3 liters and weight in the range of 15 kg including a copper cooling plate.

 

This contract demonstrates the high level of competences and know-how of Quantel Laser Diodes in the QCW diode market.

 

Quantel would like to thank the LLNL team for their outstanding support and fruitful technical inputs during the project