Goals and status of the German national research initiative BRIOLAS (brilliant diode lasers)

High power diode lasers play an important role in laser and systems technology. Over the past years the necessity arose to improve power and beam quality (i.e. brilliance) of the high power diode lasers. This is not only for building pump sources but also to provide appropriate light sources for various direct applications of high power diode lasers. The funding initiative "BRIOLAS" launched by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is the answer to this demand. In ten projects diode technology, manufacturing technology, quality, pump applications, materials processing applications, medical systems and applications and also applications in the display technology are intensively investigated; the results shall be basis for new applications, for new products and for new ideas in the field of high power diode laser technology. The individual projects are vertically structured and in each project the entire technology chain necessary for the final success is represented by the participants. The first project has been launched end of 2004 in frame BMBF's funding program "Optical Technologies", the last one was started just recently. The BMBF is supporting the BRIOLAS-initiative with about 30 ME. This article provides a general overview over the target and the actual status of the initiative.