US Patent 11070023 Diamond-coated composite heat sinks for high-power laser systems

In various embodiments, laser systems feature beam emitters thermally coupled to heat sinks comprising, consisting essentially of, or consisting of a metal-matrix composite of a thermally conductive metal and a refractory metal. At least a portion of the surface of the heat sink is treated to form a depleted region, and a diamond coating is deposited within and/or over the depleted region. The depleted region is substantially free of the thermally conductive metal or contains the thermally conductive metal at a concentration less than that of the body of the heat sink.