ABSTRACT
MATERIAL MACROPROCESSING (>1 kW) Material macro-processing covers applications of cutting, welding, and processing of sheet metal with a thickness of several millimeters or larger. CO2 lasers have traditionally dominated this segment. CW lasers with average powers of several kilowatts to a few tens of kilowatts are typically required [1, 2]. Fiber lasers have made some progress in replacing CO2 lasers recently, mainly due to their higher cutting rates, lower operational costs, lower maintenance requirements, and operational exibility. The growth of CO2 lasers in this segment is still robust, despite the growth of ber lasers. Light at 9-11 μm from CO2 lasers can be absorbed by transparent and organic materials. Fiber lasers are not yet available to operate at these wavelengths, so these CO2 lasers cannot be readily replaced. Some of these materials can also be processed using UV lasers, but they are far too expensive at this point. One relatively new entrant in this segment is the high-power direct diode, which uses patented wavelength beam combining (WBC) technology to combine multiple diode emitters to achieve a single, ultrahigh brightness beam (up to in the region of 2 kW) [3].
