Application versatility of ns pulsed fiber lasers

Pulsed fiber lasers have only just passed a d ecade of industrial adoption and the roll call of achievements is truly impressive. Much of their success can be attributed to the great parametric flexibility offered by MOPA based fiber lasers over conventional q-switch based designs. This paper reviews how the control of the pulsed parameters and also appropriate selection of beam quality can be exploited to optimise a variety of processing applications. Today’s fiber lasers have capabilities spanning 3-500ns operation and cw-1MHz repetition range all in a single source. This gives unparalleled parametric control enabling users to tailor pulse conditions to specific material processing requirements. From decorative marking to fine engraving and texturing to micro cutting the results are conclusive, showing that new levels of quality and productivity can be achieved, demonstrating the true versatility of these lasers as manufacturing tools of the future. Many processes benefit from dual setting processing where pulse parameters are changed during processing to give enhanced quality. Various examples are presented where specific combinations of pulse conditions are used highlighting the importance of pulse characteristic optimisation.Pulsed fiber lasers have only just passed a d ecade of industrial adoption and the roll call of achievements is truly impressive. Much of their success can be attributed to the great parametric flexibility offered by MOPA based fiber lasers over conventional q-switch based designs. This paper reviews how the control of the pulsed parameters and also appropriate selection of beam quality can be exploited to optimise a variety of processing applications. Today’s fiber lasers have capabilities spanning 3-500ns operation and cw-1MHz repetition range all in a single source. This gives unparalleled parametric control enabling users to tailor pulse conditions to specific material processing requirements. From decorative marking to fine engraving and texturing to micro cutting the results are conclusive, showing that new levels of quality and productivity can be achieved, demonstrating the true versatility of these lasers as manufacturing tools of the future. Many processes benefit from dual setting processing wh...