Advanced metal processing enabled by fiber lasers with tunable beam properties

Lasers are essential tools for a wide variety of materials processing applications. The speed, quality, and process window are determined in part by the laser beam properties, including size, shape, and divergence. Most laser sources have fixed beam characteristics, resulting in processing and material limitations and nonoptimized performance. nLIGHT has developed a fiber-laser product line that provides rapid tunability of the beam characteristics directly from the delivery fiber using a novel, all-fiber mechanism. The broad range of beam sizes and shapes and real-time programmability allow adjustments on-the-fly and optimization of each process step using a single laser source, enabling development of versatile tools that provide optimum performance for a range of processing needs. We describe the underlying technology, performance, and beam characteristics and show results for the largest industrial laser applications, including metal cutting, welding, and additive manufacturing.