TPT May 2013

Technology News

Low-moded welding laser SPI Lasers, a designer andmanufacturer of fibre lasers, has launched a CW low- moded laser designed for thin material spot welding.

and drawing their own fibre, of which SPI is one of the few worldwide.”

modulation capability creating sub 10us pulses, and power output variation of <1%, the laser provides a solution in micro-welding across a range of applications include smartphones, battery contacts, medical devices and fine connectors. Stuart McCuloch, medium power product manager

SPI Lasers UK Ltd – UK Fax: +44 1489 779698 Website: www.spilasers.com

The laser was launched at Laser World of Photonics China, Shanghai, in March. Single-moded lasers with high intensity Gaussian beams produce exceptional penetration; this is not always desirable. When welding thin materials or where it is preferred that the weld is not visible from the back, then the new low-moded 200W laser is a viable alternative. The energy is evenly spread over a wider area, and this removes the high intensity peak inherent in single-mode beams. For this laser SPI has tailored the beam (M2 ~4 / BPP ≤1.4mm rad) to suit the application with the right degree of intensity and mode stability delivering the perfect profile to avoid cratering or break-throughs in the spot weld. With CW or modulated (up to 100kHz)

Fibre laser from SPI

for SPI Lasers, commented, “Beam tailoring has become a standard feature of SPI’s pulsed lasers for marking and mi c r o -mach i n i ng and now in 2013 SPI have moved onto the CW medium power product set. The capability to provide such specific moded lasers is enabled only by laser companies capable of designing

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M ay 2013