![]() ![]() Aluminum, copper, brass, and steel absorb near-infrared better, making it easier to cut them with solid-state lasers. New Applicationsīesides being simpler to operate, solid-state lasers produce light in a different wavelength, near-infrared (about 1 µm) compared to the far-infrared (about 10 µm) of the CO2 lasers. What manufacturers are doing now is creatively integrating them even more seamlessly into production as they move into new applications for laser processing. It is why fiber lasers are dominating, especially in cutting. In a word, solid-state lasers are simple. Direct-diode semiconductor lasers are the most efficient and simple to make, but beam quality of direct diodes in terms of focus and spot size is not-yet-at the same level as other solid-state devices. Each has its advantages, with the disk laser especially useful in high-power applications because the disk shape is easier to cool at higher power over long periods, according to Bailey. Direct-diode lasers are a little different, made of a semiconductor material. ![]() They are then formed into long thin strands for fiber lasers, rods of about ½–1″ (12.7–25.4 mm) in diameter or disks about the size of nickel coin. Solid crystals made of ytterbium-aluminum-garnet, or YAG, are coated with a special light absorber, according to Bailey. “Trumpf produces a variety of solid-state lasers, including fiber, disk, rod, and direct-diode lasers,” he said. What differentiates them is the shape of the resonator, the device that is pumped with a source light that produces the laser beam. ![]() Solid-state lasers come in a variety of forms. ![]() Here, the Trumpf TruDisk 421 generates laser light at 515 nanometers, showing the versatility of solid-state lasers such as disk lasers. Welding with green laser light is ideal for copper. “The hourly cost to an operator using a solid-state laser is an order of magnitude less,” he said. They are two to five times faster, simpler to integrate into a machine tool, and less expensive to both purchase and operate. While Trumpf still produces CO2 lasers, for most applications solid-state lasers literally outshine them. In the last seven to eight years, solid-state lasers have come to dominate laser welding and cutting,” said Tom Bailey, product specialist for Trumpf Inc. (Farmington, CT). ![]()
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