Three-fold effective brightness increase of laser diode bar emission by assessment and correction of diode array curvature

An optical arrangement is used to characterize diode bar curvature which is known to limit the effective brightness achievable with such devices. By introducing an inclined, cylindrical collimating lens in front of the diode bar, the curvature of the diodeʹs beam can be reduced by more than 60%. The correct inclination angle for this method is derived. Using a beam shaper together with this correction mechanism we achieve a homogeneous beam profile with low M2 values in orthogonal directions and an effective brightness increase of more than 200%.