Compact, high-power, frequency-converted diode laser systems (CoDiS)

Project Information

CoDiS

Grant agreement ID: 734075

DOI

10.3030/734075

Project closed

EC signature date 25 August 2016

Start date 1 October 2016

End date 31 March 2019

Funded under

• INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies - Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

Total cost

€ 2 093 919,00

EU contribution

€ 1 423 043,30

Coordinated by

NORLASE APS
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CoDiS (Compact, high-power, frequency-converted diode laser systems (CoDiS))

Reporting period: 2018-01-01 to 2019-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

"Visible Lasers are of interest for a wide variety of industries including life science, ligthing, medical and laser pumping. The research in this project addresses a technology called based on new breakthroughs in semi-conductor laser technology, called tapered diode doubled lasers (TTDL). This technology provides designers of OEM Equipment unique opportunities in terms of performance and cost effectiveness. The primary application for the TDDL are in medical devices for treatment of ophthalmological, dermatological and other conditions. The cost of this equipment is driven by the laser light source and the TDDL has the potential to drastically reduce these costs, while delivering superior performance, thereby making laser medicine more available and effective for the global patient population. The overall objective of the project is to develop the TDDL technology at the green wavelengths to the stage where it is ready for use in ophthalmic treatment systems. To achieve this, several leading manufactures of laser medical devices are closely involved in the project as test users. Furthermore, the project aims to demonstrate TDDL at the 577 nm yellow wavelength, which is considered the ""golden standard"" for several types of treatments and which is very complicated to reach with competing technologies."

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

For Norlase:
• Specification and initial testing, 561/532 nm TDDL laser: in the first project period, Norlase has lead the task of establishing target specifications for the medical TDDL product, in close collaboration with test-users. Furthermore, Norlase has developed the prototype of the next generation TDDL, which has been tested with the test-users, further substantiating the specifications.
• Product and platform maturation: Extensive work has been done on the Norlase side on maturing the TDDL platform, to not only live up to the requirements for medical lasers, but to fully leverage the advantages of the TDDL technology. This includes a thermal redesign, better understanding of the sensitive to optical feedback, efficient fiber delivery and new control electronics.
• Prototyping and testing yellow 577 nm TDDL Laser: While the work on the next-generation yellow TDDL is still in the early phases, a milestone has been reached by Norlase, with the manufacturing of a stable, high-power 577 nm prototype.
• Reliability testing and final application test, 532 nm TDDL laser: In this area, Norlase has been assisting eagleyard with the extensive testing and validation of the 1064 nm diodes. Norlase has also prepared and initialized the series production of the improved TDDL, to be completed in the second period.

For eagleyard:
• Specifications and Initial Testing, 561/532 nm TDDL laser: In this area, eagleyard has worked closely with Norlase and the test-users on establishing the target specifications. Furthermore, eagleyard developed the tapered lasers for the initial prototype TDDL.
• Product and platform maturation: In this area, eagleyard has primarily assisted Norlase with testing diode sensitivity feedback and identifying the minimum requirements for optical isolation.
• Prototyping and testing Yellow 577 nm TDDL Laser: So far, eagleyard has successfully developed and delivered the prototype 1154 nm diodes that are at the heart of the yellow TDDL. This is a very significant accomplishment, which pushes high-brightness semiconductor diodes into new territory. The resulting prototype devices are performing better than expected, which bodes well for the second generation, due for delivery in the second period.
• Reliability testing and final application tests, 532 nm TDDL laser: in this area, eagleyard has had significant activities with testing the 1064 nm diodes. With assistance from Norlase, several industrial-grade test beds have been established at EYP, suited to run the diodes for 1000s of hours under well-controlled conditions. The results have been instrumental in developing the improved medical TDDL system. Furthermore, eagleyard has developed and produced the improved 1064 nm diodes, based on the test results from previous work-package.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

"The most significant result beyond the state of the art, is the 577 nm ""true yellow"" TDDL prototype:
The 1154 nm laser diodes developed by eagleyard have shown optical power of more than 6 W. By the end of the project life time test results are expected. Life time data is mandatory prior to commercialization to allow an assessment about potential risk due to premature device failure.
The 577 nm prototype was completed by Norlase based on eagleyard’s prototype devices, with performance close to the 532 and 561 nm TDDL versions. This is seen as perhaps the major achievement of the first project period, pushing the TDDL technology, with all its advantages in cost and compactness, into the extremely rare category of high-brightness 577 nm lasers. The lasers have been tested successfully with end-users and more mature iteration is being developed and will be tested during the second period.

Other results beyond the state of the art includes major progress in technological readiness of the TDDL technology in the green wavelength area:
- The detailed requirement specifications for a TDDL medical laser has been established, based on the input from leading laser medical device manufacturers.
- A new generation of 1064 nm tapered diodes have been developed by eagleyard, which reduce the feedback sensitivity and increases lifetime.
- New doubling crystals have been implemented to increase power overhead.
- 2000 hour lifetime has been reached at 532 nm.
- Industrial-grade testbeds have been established at eagleyard, in collaboration with Norlase, enabling perhaps the most precisely controlled long-term test environment for tapered diodes.
- Custom driver electronics have been developed, which reduce the size of the electronics by 90 %, improves performance and lower costs, to make the TDDL a feasible OEM product.
- Fiber-optical delivery for the TDDL has been developed and very low loss of power through the fiber has been demonstrated.

The project will result in a TDDL ready for integration into laser based medical devices, primarily within ophthalmology and dermatology. The expected long-term impact of the project are unchanged from the original project plan. The project is expected to generate significant growth for both eagleyard and Norlase. eagleyard expects to generate total revenues of 7 million euros in the 5 years post-project. Norlase expects to generate total revenues of 33,5 million euros and expand with 40 new full-time positions at it's facilities in the capitol region of Denmark.

Perhaps the biggest impact, however, will be for the doctors who are the end-users of laser-based medical devices, and their patients. The TDDL is set to reduce the operational costs and cost-per-treatment for end-users substantially. Another key benefit for end-users is that systems based on Aurora One can be far more compact. All of this is achieved with products delivering light with near-perfect beam quality at exactly the desired wavelengths, including 577 nm yellow. This enables ophthalmologists to increase their profits, while making treatments more effective and accessible for the patients worldwide."

First test-run of improved tapered diode at eagleyard

First yellow light during assembly of 577 nm TDDL prototype