Have you all heard of pumping lasers? Its English name is pump laser, which is a laser that uses the pump energy to stimulate the laser to amplify the medium (such as crystals, glass, gas, etc.) to produce laser emission. The pump laser is composed of laser medium, pump source, resonator, output coupler and controller, etc. It is mainly used in industrial, medical, communication, information technology and other fields, such as manufacturing micromachining, clinical treatment, optical communication, measurement and lidar. It uses a laser as a pump source and provides energy through a semiconductor laser. This energy is absorbed by the laser medium, such as ytterbium-doped fibers or crystals, and excites electrons in the medium. Through the above process, the final output of high power and high quality laser is generated.

▲ Pump laser working principle

【980nm pumped laser 】

As one of the most common pump sources, the 980nm pump laser is the preferred pump source for many laser systems due to its superior performance, including high efficiency, stable output power and good beam quality. Especially in applications that require high power output, such as industrial processing, medical equipment, communication systems, etc., the performance of 980nm pumped lasers is particularly outstanding.

▲ Global 980nm pump laser market top 8 manufacturers and market share

According to the survey report, the 980nm pump laser manufacturers in the world mainly include Coherent, Lumentum, O-Net and so on. The top three global vendors hold approximately 75.0% market share. With the growth of data center, cloud computing and big data applications, the demand for high-bandwidth, long-distance transmission increases, and the application of 980nm pumped lasers in fiber amplifiers is gradually becoming popular. On the one hand, it uses advanced pump source and high efficiency laser medium to achieve high power output up to watts; On the other hand, it uses fiber grating frequency stabilization technology, through the reflection characteristics of fiber grating, the output wavelength of the laser is locked at a specific value, which effectively inhibits the wavelength drift caused by temperature changes, mechanical vibration and other factors. The good wavelength stability and spectral purity of the 980nm pumped laser ensure the stability and consistency of the laser output.

In addition, with the gradual expansion of the industry market, in order to meet the market demand for miniaturized and portable lasers, the latest 980nm pump laser adopts a miniaturized all-metal packaging process. This packaging method can not only reduce the volume and weight of the laser, but also improve its own vibration resistance and durability, and to a certain extent, greatly improve the market competitiveness of 980nm pumped lasers.

However, because the optical device in the optical module is very sensitive to temperature, the temperature change will cause the shift of the operating wavelength and affect the communication quality. In order to ensure the stable operation of the pumped laser during the working process and to extend its service life as much as possible, we prioritize the use of semiconductor refrigeration technology for efficient thermal management of the pumped laser.

First of all, the semiconductor cooler (TEC) can not only maintain the stability of the operating wavelength of the optical device, but also accurately control the temperature of the optical module, reducing the wavelength offset caused by temperature fluctuations, so as to maintain the stability of communication. Second, some optical devices can only perform best at certain temperatures, and semiconductor coolers (TEC) can ensure that these devices work at the optimal temperature, easily play their performance advantages. In addition, the semiconductor refrigerator (TEC) can also solve the heat dissipation problem of high-power devices: for high-power optical modules, the traditional heat dissipation method can not meet its heat dissipation needs, but the semiconductor refrigerator (TEC) has the active heat dissipation function, which can effectively solve the heat dissipation problem of high-power devices and ensure the long-term stable operation of the module.

In summary, the semiconductor cooler (TEC) guarantees the performance of the pumped laser in various application environments. With the continuous expansion of the pumped laser market, especially the wide application of 980nm pumped lasers in industrial, medical, communications and other fields, the market demand for semiconductor coolers (TEC) has also increased significantly. It can be said that the popularity of the application of pumped lasers has driven the market demand for semiconductor refrigerators (TEC), and TEC refrigeration technology has also become an important driving force for the development of the optical communication industry. The two complement each other and jointly promote the future development of optical communications.