SiC heat sinks in high-power laser systems

To address the thermal management bottleneck that restricts the development of high-power laser systems toward higher power and brightness, this study presents a systematic review of laser composite devices integrating silicon carbide (SiC) heat sinks with various laser gain media, including gallium nitride (GaN), gallium arsenide (GaAs), rare earth ion-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Yb:YAG or Nd:YAG), and indium phosphide (InP). First, the mainstream fabrication technologies of SiC heat sinks - namely physical vapor transport (PVT), liquid phase epitaxy (LPE), and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) - are outlined. Meanwhile, three representative heterogeneous bonding technologies (direct bonding, metallization bonding, and laser-assisted bonding) are elaborated. Subsequently, temperature uniformity and interfacial thermal resistance are analyzed to evaluate the thermal management efficiency of these composite devices. Owing to the synergistic advantages of efficient heat dissipation and low-stress heterogeneous integration, SiC-based laser composite devices provide a core solution to the thermal management challenges of high-power, high-brightness laser systems. They also exhibit broad application prospects in industrial precision processing, laser medicine, and high-speed optical communications.