Actively cooled optical substrates for high average power reflective or diffractive optic
AssigneeUniversity of Rochester
InventorsErik P. Power, Jake Bromage, Jonathan D. Zuegel
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Abstract
Integrated active cooling of high-power reflective or diffractive optics uses substrates manufactured from low-expansion ceramics to flow coolant between the back surface of the substrate and chambers behind but adjacent a reflective front surface, in a direction transverse to the front surface, to thereby achieve much greater average power handling than known cooling techniques.
Claims22
An actively cooled optic device comprising:
- a substrate having a front configured to reflect or diffract visible or IR light and a back;
- a plurality of individual chambers in said substrate recessed from said front by no more than 10 mm;
- and
- passages that connect said back to said chambers and are configured for coolant flow between said back and said chambers;
- wherein said passages comprise at least one inlet passage and at least one outlet passage from said back to each of said chambers.
An actively cooled optic device comprising:
- a substrate that has a front configured to reflect or diffract visible or near-IR light and a back and a plurality of chambers recessed from said front;
- inlet passages and outlet passages extending from said back surface to said chambers in a direction transverse to said front;
- wherein at least one inlet passage and at least one outlet passage are in coolant flow communication with each of said chambers.
A method of actively cooling an optic device comprising a substrate with a front configured to reflect or diffract visible or near-IR illuminating light and a back, comprising:
- forming a pattern of chambers in said substrate recessed from but adjacent said front;
- forming coolant inlet and outlet passages extending from said back surface to said chambers, wherein at least one of said inlet passages and at least one of said outlet passages extend to each of said chambers;
- flowing coolant to said chambers through said inlet passages and exhausting coolant from said chambers through said outlet passages to maintain said front surface at a temperature range maintaining said front in surface shape with deformations not to exceed one-tenth of the illuminating optical wavelength at absorbed power density greater than 100 mW/cm2.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.