A Novel Package-Integrated Ceramic Cyclone Cooler for the Thermal Management of High- Energy Lasers

                                                      Rinaldo Miorini                                                              Dana Teague

                                                       GE Research                                                    Air Force Research Laboratory

                                          rinaldo.miorini.phd.us@ieee.org                                       joseph.teague@us.af.mil

 

INDUSTRIAL LASER BACKGROUND

High-power industrial lasers (such as those used in heavy industry and construction) present a brutally difficult thermal management challenge for a variety of reasons. The high-power diodes required for their function combine high heat fluxes (> 1 kW cm-2), with a very high isothermality (} 2 ℃ is the generally accepted value), at a relatively low temperature (23 ℃is used as a standard value) [1-5]. The heat generated by the system must ultimately be rejected to environments across a broad temperature range depending on where the laser is operated and employed. In addition to all this, thermal interfaces must be thermal-expansion matched to avoid deforming the laser diodes, which limits the available materials for construction. Traditionally, lasers have been developed and tested in laboratories, i.e., in a temperature-controlled environment, with access to large quantities of facility coolant. However, if one wanted to create a more integrated solution that could be transported and used in the field, the size, weight, power, and cooling constraints of this laboratory/facility would be unacceptable. The location in which the laser is used may not have tight temperature regulation, nor large coolant reservoirs available, nor the space needed for the necessary pumps, pipes, and control valves. 

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