Laser is one of the essential core components in the modern laser processing system.
With the development of laser processing technology, lasers are also developing, and many new lasers have appeared.
The early laser processing lasers were mainly high-power CO2 gas lasers and lamp-pumped solid-state YAG lasers.
The development trend is mainly to improve the laser power, but when the laser power meets certain requirements, the beam quality of the laser is paid attention to, and the development of the laser is transferred to improving the beam quality.
Semiconductor lasers, fiber lasers and disk lasers have been developed successively, which has made rapid development in the fields of laser material processing, medical treatment, aerospace, automobile manufacturing and so on.
Fiber laser, CO2 laser, Nd: YAG laser, semiconductor laser, disk laser are the five most common lasers in the market. What are their characteristics and application scope?
Fiber laser
Due to high electro-optic conversion efficiency, good metal absorption coefficient and high beam quality, fiber laser can be used for metal cutting, welding, marking, metal surface treatment applications.
It is widely used in aerospace, automobile manufacturing, 3C electronics, medical fields.
CO2 laser
The laser wavelength of the CO2 laser is 10.6um, and the absorption coefficient of metal is low.
It is generally suitable for cutting non-metallic materials and welding metal materials. It can be widely used in welding applications in aviation, electronic instruments, machinery, automobile fields.
Nd: YAG laser
YAG laser has a high absorption coefficient to metal, which can be used for metal cutting, welding, marking applications.
Because of its high energy, high peak power, compact structure, firm and durable, reliable performance characteristics, it is widely used in industry, national defense, medical treatment, scientific research and other fields.
Semiconductor laser
Due to the high uniformity of laser beam and poor penetration, the semiconductor laser is not suitable for metal cutting, but its spot characteristics are suitable for metal surface treatment, such as cladding, hardening, 3D printing, etc. It can be widely used in aerospace, medical, automotive fields.
Disk laser
Disc laser is a spatial optical path coupling structure, so the beam quality is very high. It is suitable for laser material applications such as metal cutting, welding, marking, laser cladding, hardening and 3D printing.
It is widely used in automobile manufacturing, aerospace, precision machinery, 3C electronics fields.
Laser technology is widely used in the industry, but which kind of laser product is more suitable still needs to be selected according to the performance and application of each laser.
Here is a table to show you the characteristics and applications of the above-mentioned 5 types of lasers.
| Laser type | Fiber Laser | CO2 Laser | Nd:YAG Laser | Semiconductor Laser | Disk Laser |
| Laser wavelength (μm) | 1. 0-1.1 | 10.6 | 1.0-1.1 | 0.9-1.0 | 1.0-1.1 |
| Photoelectric conversion efficiency | 35%-40% | 10% | 3%-5% | 70%-80% | 30% |
| Output power (kw) | 0.5-20 | 1-20 | 1-3 | 0.5-10 | 1-20 |
| Beam quality | <2.5 | 6 | 15 | 10 | <2.5 |
| Focusing performance | Small beam divergence angle, small spot after focusing, good single-mode and multi-mode beam quality, high peak power and high power density | The beam divergence angle is small, the base film is easy to obtain, the focused spot is small, and the power density is high | The beam divergence angle is large, it is difficult to obtain a single mode, the focused spot is large and the power density is low | The beam divergence angle is large, the focused spot is large, and the spot uniformity is good | The beam divergence angle is small, the focused spot is small, and the power density is high |
| Cutting characteristics | It is generally suitable for cutting metal materials with fast cutting speed, and can adapt to the cutting of plates with different thickness, high efficiency and large cutting thickness | Generally, it is not suitable for cutting metal materials. When cutting non-metal materials, the cutting thickness is large and the cutting speed is fast | Poor, low cutting capacity | Due to the uniform spot and poor beam penetration, it is not suitable for cutting application and metal surface treatment | It is generally suitable for cutting metal materials, with fast cutting speed, and can adapt to the cutting of plates with different thickness |
| Welding characteristics | It is suitable for spot welding, brazing, laser compound welding, laser scanning welding and high reflection material welding | It is suitable for laser brazing and high reflection material welding | It is suitable for spot welding, three-dimensional laser welding and welding of high reflection materials | It is suitable for brazing, compound welding, laser cladding welding, gold room surface treatment and high reflection material welding | It is suitable for laser spot welding, brazing, compound welding, laser scanning welding and high reflection material welding |
| Type of processing material | High inversion material | Non Machinable high inversion material | Copper, aluminum | High inversion material | High inversion material |
| Metal absorptivity | 35% | 12% | 35% | 35% | 35% |
| Volume | Compact and compact | Maximum | Small | Small | Small |
| Maintenance cycle | No maintenance required | 1000-2000 hours | 300 hours | No maintenance required | No maintenance required |
| Relative operating cost | Low | High | High | commonly | high |
| Processing portability | Good flexibility and flexibility | Inconvenient to move | Good flexibility and adaptability | Good flexibility and adaptability | Good flexibility, strong adaptability, but sensitive to earthquake |
| Technology | newest | used | used | new | new |
| Service life | >100000 hours | >2000 hours | >300 hours | >15000 hours | >100000 hours |
