Dudes of all flavours;
I have an itch: I wish to run a 10W laser module in a vacuum chamber (UHV: 10^-6mbar or so).
Anyone got any direct experience of the 'fun' in keeping the diode cool? And any tips on doing so?
Cheers;
-James G.
Water cooling loops will work, but that is pretty complicated. In vacuum, metal surfaces that are pressed together conduct heat very poorly. You need some sort of thermal conductor (either loaded silicone grease or gap-pads) to carry the heat across. If your laser can be attached to the chamber by some structure, that can conduct the heat out.
Jon
Jon,
Aye, I've cooled lamps (tiddly 10Watt deuterium lamps, of all things) inside vacuum chambers with fluid lines on KF flanges in the past.
But the suggestion of mating that to the chamber wall's a good one - I suspect I'll have to remake the mount that the laser diode sits in.
Thanks!
Heat sinking to the wall is the way to go, for sure. However, grease and polymers are verboten in UHV on account of outgassing. You can't even use soft solder because it outgasses during bakeout.
I'd recommend using indium foil as a thermal interface between the module and the chamber wall. If you compress it enough, it'll seal in the incidental gas it accumulates at ambient pressure pretty reliably. Otherwise it'll probably outgas like a screw with no vent hole.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
-- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 http://electrooptical.net http://hobbs-eo.com
Thanks Phil.
A solid recommendation - Indium foil is known to me - as is Grafoil.
Still prevaricating over the laser module choice.
Cheers.
-JG
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