Performance and aging of a high power 2-D laser diode array

The effects of shot life on the output power, spectrum, near field, and far field patterns of a high power laser diode array have been measured and are reported, along with a description of the apparatus used to perform the measurements. The array operated for a total of 5.9 x 10(7) shots at a power output equivalent to 1 kW/cm(2). A 23% degradation in output power was observed, accompanied by a 3-nm red shift of the emission maximum. The effects of the measured drop in performance are particularly relevant to the application of these devices for pumping solid state lasers.