3.8mm Laser Diode Package

Important Considerations for 3.8mm Laser Diode Packages

TO-Can Laser Diode Heat Dissipation

Waste Heat – Many customers do not appreciate the importance or the complexity of removing waste heat. Heat is the most significant cause of field failures, especially for higher power laser diodes. You must remove waste heat efficiently and instantaneously or the laser will be catastrophically damaged or, at a minimum, experience a shortened lifetime. One of our previous blogs, titled “Understanding Laser Diode Lifetime,” will provide further reading on some critical aspects that affect the lifetime of a laser diode, including die mounting, facet damage, and drive current.

You must ensure the laser diode has an adequate heatsink for the waste heat produced. Depending on the semiconductor laser type and wavelength, laser diodes are typically…

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The Three Most Common Mistakes when Mounting and Heatsinking a TO-Can

• Never mount the laser by the cap: Not only is it ineffective to heat sink the cap of a TO-can, but it is also hazardous to attempt to mount the can from the cap. Most TO-can caps are produced by stamping out sheet metal.  This process, while extremely inexpensive results in very thin, structurally unsound caps.  As a result, any significant pressure applied to the cap will deform and potentially dislodge the cap from the stem.  Not only will this result in structural damage, but if the laser is hermetically sealed, the loss of hermeticity can lead to environmentally induced damage to the laser chip.  This is particularly dangerous for GaN-based laser diodes, which oxidize instantly when in contact with the standard atmosphere. Additionally, since the cap is either glued or soldered to the base of the stem, they are often not seated at exactly 90-degrees to the base.  As a result, if you use the cap as a center point, the laser will most likely come out at an unpredictable angle.

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How Removing the TEC Increases Laser Diode Stability

As most people already understand, a laser diodes performance is highly dependent on its operating temperature, which is why most mid- to high-end laser packages utilize embedded thermoelectric coolers (TECs).  The strong temperature dependence arises from two fundamental properties of the diode itself.  First, as the temperature of the semiconductor varies, it’s gain band shifts up or down, this is known as redshifting and blueshifting.   Secondly, as the temperature increases or decreases so does both the materials index of refraction and its physical volume, causing variations in the optical path length and resulting in changes in the longitudinal mode structure.

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How Can We Help?

With over 25 years experience providing 3.8mm laser diode packages to OEM integrators working in various markets and applications, and 1000s of units fielded, we have the experience to ensure you get the right product for the application. Working with RPMC ensures you are getting trusted advice from our knowledgeable and technical staff on a wide range of laser products.  RPMC and our manufacturers are willing and able to provide custom solutions for your unique application.

If you have any questions, or if you would like some assistance please Contact Us here. Furthermore, you can email us at info@rpmclasers.com to talk to a knowledgeable Product Manager.

Alternatively, use the filters on this page to assist in narrowing down the selection of PAGE TITLE lasers for sale. Finally, head to our Knowledge Center with our Lasers 101 page and Blogs, Whitepapers, and FAQ pages for further, in-depth reading.

Finally, check out our Limited Supply – In Stock – Buy Now page: This page contains an ever-changing assortment of various types of new lasers at marked-down/discount prices.