Advances in industrial high-power lasers

Holger Schlueter

doi:10.1117/12.610958

23 March 2005 Advances in industrial high-power lasers

Holger Schlueter

Proceedings Volume 5777, XV International Symposium on Gas Flow, Chemical Lasers, and High-Power Lasers; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.610958
Event: XV International Symposium on Gas Flow, Chemical Lasers, and High-Power Lasers, 2004, Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

Four major types of laser sources are used for material processing. Excluding Excimer lasers, this paper focuses on advances in High Power CO₂ lasers, Solid State Lasers and Diode Lasers. Because of their unrivaled cost to brightness relationship the fast axial flow CO₂laser remains unrivaled for flat-sheet laser cutting. Adding approximately a kW of output power ever four years, this laser type has been propelling the entire sheet metal fabrication industry for the last two decades. Very robust, diffusion cooled annular discharge CO₂ lasers with 2kW output power have enabled robot mounted lasers for 3D applications. Solid State Lasers are chosen mainly because of the option of fiber delivery. Industrial applications still rely on lamp-pumped Nd:YAG lasers with guaranteed output powers of 4.5 kW at the workpiece. The introduction of the diode pumped Thin Disc Laser 4.5 kW laser enables new applications such as the Programmable Focus Optics. Pumping the Thin Disc Laser requires highly reliable High Power Diode Lasers. The necessary reliability can only be achieved in a modern, automated semiconductor manufacturing facility. For Diode Lasers, electro-optical efficiencies above 65% are as important as the passivation of the facets to avoid Burn-In power degradation.

Citation Download Citation

Holger Schlueter "Advances in industrial high-power lasers", Proc. SPIE 5777, XV International Symposium on Gas Flow, Chemical Lasers, and High-Power Lasers, (23 March 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.610958

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