Design approaches for laser-diode material-processing systems using    fibers and micro-optics

Weiquin Chen; Chandrasekhar Roychoudhuri; Conrad M. Banas

doi:10.1117/12.183489

1 November 1994 Design approaches for laser-diode material-processing systems using fibers and micro-optics

Weiquin Chen, Chandrasekhar Roychoudhuri, Conrad M. Banas

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 33, Issue 11, (November 1994). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.183489

Abstract

Low-cost, efficient, and compact high-power laser diodes (LDs) will make desktop laser manufacturing (rapid prototyping, sintering, drilling, marking, etc.) a reality soon. Laser processing of materials requires not only high average power, from tens of watts to kilowatts, but also high incident beam intensity or power density, from 10³ to 10⁸ W/cm². Current commercial high-power LDs do emit 10⁸ W/cm²; however, they are microscopic in size, and an individual diode emits ~ 1 W (cw) in a highly divergent (~30 x 10 deg) multimode structure. Gathering high power from a large number of such microscopic incoherent diodes into a small spot of high intensity requires micro-optic component and complex system design. Several difterent design approaches for high-intensity laser-diode systems are presented. Some of these are commercial, others will be soon, and still others will need technological developments. Possible applications and some preliminary results of direct diode-laser sintering and transformation hardening of stainless-steel ribbons are also presented.

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Weiquin Chen, Chandrasekhar Roychoudhuri, and Conrad M. Banas "Design approaches for laser-diode material-processing systems using fibers and micro-optics," Optical Engineering 33(11), (1 November 1994). https://doi.org/10.1117/12.183489

Published: 1 November 1994

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