A laser bar is soldered to a conventional microchannel copper heat sink whose
coefficient
of thermal expansion (CTE) is locally modified in the area where the laser bar
is soldered to better match the CTE of the laser bar. A strip of ceramic material
having a CTE lower than that each of the laser bar and of the copper heat sink
is soldered to portions of the metallic heat sink located adjacently to the surface
area on which the laser bar is located. The inclusion of the ceramic strips enables
a laser bar having a nominal CTE of 6.610-6/K, to be soldered
directly to a copper heat sink having a nominal CTE of 16.510-6/K
without incurring thermal distortions at the interface that would limit the useful
life of the laser bar.
