Addressing challenging micro-processing applications and materials with fiber lasers

Fiber-integrated high power fiber lasers are becoming the technology of choice for a diverse range of micromaterials processing applications due to their efficiency, operational stability and reliability. It is now clear that a much wider range of laser parameters are available when fiber lasers are compared to conventional solid-state lasers. Add to this the lack of additional variables associated with thermal lensing and process development is greatly simplified. Of even more importance, this parameter flexibility enables these lasers to perform well beyond the state-of-the-art in certain established applications where performance expectations are now very high. Similarly, due to its low M-2, the laser is shown here to perform well in applications and on materials that might not be immediately considered suitable for this type of continuous-wave modulated laser.