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The Role of Molybdenum-Copper Alloys in High-Power Laser Packaging

High-power lasers have a wide range of applications in industrial processing, medical devices, military applications, and optical communications. 

However, these lasers generate a lot of heat during operation, which can lead to laser degradation, beam drift, and even device failure if heat dissipation is not dissipated in a timely manner. Therefore, thermal management is a core issue in the design of high-power laser packages.

Molybdenum-copper (Mo-Cu) alloys, as high-performance heat sink materials, play a key role in laser packaging due to their high thermal conductivity, low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and excellent mechanical stability.

Thermal challenges in high-power laser packaging

1. High heat load

High-power lasers (e.g., fiber lasers, semiconductor lasers, solid-state lasers) typically operate in the hundreds of watts or even kilowatt range, with extremely high heat densities, requiring efficient thermal management solutions.

2. Thermal expansion matching

Laser chips are usually made of semiconductor materials such as GaAs, GaN, and InP, which have a low coefficient of thermal expansion (4-7 × 10⁻⁶/K). If the CTE of the heat sink material does not match it, it will lead to the accumulation of thermal stress, which will affect the lifetime of the device. 

3. Thermal uniformity

The heating area of the laser chip is usually small, and too high local temperature can cause thermal lensing, which can affect the beam quality. Therefore, heat sink materials need to have good thermal diffusion properties to evenly distribute heat.

4. Long-term stability

High-power lasers usually need to operate stably for a long time in high-temperature, high-humidity, and high-power density environments, and heat sink materials must have excellent thermal fatigue resistance and corrosion resistance.

Application of molybdenum-copper alloys in high-power laser packaging

1. Laser diode (LD) heat sink

Semiconductor lasers (such as VCSEL and DFB lasers) usually use GaAs and GaN chips, and the Mo-Cu heat sink can be used as the base material of LD chips to improve heat dissipation efficiency, reduce thermal stress, and improve beam quality.

2. Solid-state laser (YAG laser) heat sink

Pump light sources for solid-state laser systems such as Nd:YAG lasers (e.g., diode-pumped LD) also require high-efficiency heat sink materials, and Mo-Cu can be used as a substrate to optimize thermal management and improve pump efficiency.

3. Thermal management of fiber lasers

In recent years, fiber lasers have been widely used in industrial processing (e.g., cutting, welding). The Mo-Cu alloy can be used as a heat sink substrate for fiber lasers to ensure the stable operation of the core light source module.

4. High-power CO₂ laser heat dissipation substrate

CO₂ lasers usually require an efficient heat dissipation structure, and the Mo-Cu heat sink can be used in its discharge tubes, mirror support structures and other components to reduce thermal distortion and improve the stability of the optical system.

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