The glossary helps you to get to know Laser terms better
With the help of a deflection unit, the Laser beam is deflected in the X and Y directions. This creates a two-dimensional area in which the Laser can be positioned. This is also referred to as a "marking field".
The deflection is performed by galvanometer scanners with integrated mirrors and two of these Laser components are required to be able to use both the X and Y axes.
In Lasertechnology, the active medium refers to the light-generating Lasermedium in Laser. Alongside the pump source and the resonator, it is one of the three essential elements of a Laser.
As a rule, Laser are categorized according to their Lasermedium:
- Solids, for example doped glasses or crystals are used and this is referred to as a solidlasern
- If liquids such as dye solutions are used, they are referred to as dyeslasern.
- Gases such as helium-neon mixtures are referred to as gaseslaser.
Not all Lasern use an laseractive medium in the sense of a material. In diodeslasern or quantum cascadeslasern, population inversion is generated with the aid of structures, often consisting of semiconductor material.
When it comes to fine drilling of a few micrometers and precision drilling up to several hundred micrometers in diameter - a QCW fiberlaser is the tool of choice!
An ultrashort pulselaser enables Laserdrilling in almost all materials (metals, ceramics, glass, plastic, etc.) and in the highest quality.
In CNC technology, powerfulCO2 Laser are usually used. These can process wood, plastic, PVC or even metals.
There are many advantages that speak in favor of Lasercutting:
- Precision - edges can be cut even more precisely and accurately using Laser. There is also no need for polishing and usually no need for reworking
- Quiet - a Laser is simply quieter than a mechanical router
- No chip formation and therefore simply clean
Lasercutting is an extremely efficient technology.
in 1964, C. Kumar N. Patel developed theCO2 Laser at Bell Laboratories. Colloquially, this powerful Laser is also known as carbon dioxidelaser. Its Lasermedium is carbon dioxide with a 4-level system.
Alongside the solid-statelasern, the carbon dioxidelaser is one of the most powerful Lasern and is used in many areas of industry. TheCO2 Laser can achieve output powers of up to 80 kW and pulse energies of up to 100 kJ.
CO2 Laser are relatively efficient and inexpensive and the efficiency is around 15% to 20%.
DIN EN 60825-1:2015-07 classifies Laser and Laserdevices in terms of their danger to people. Class 1 lists Laser that are generally safe for people when used conscientiously - the highest class is Class 4 in DIN EN 60825-1:2015-07. Laser that can pose a significant risk to people are summarized here.
f-theta lenses or f-theta objectives are used in combination with XY galvanometer scanners or polygon scanners. With the f-theta lens or the f-theta objective, the Laserfocus is positioned on a flat image field and the focus size remains constant. They are also used in the field of Laserlabeling or Lasermarking.
A special form of the solidlasers is the fiberlaser. The active medium is the doped core of a glass fiber. In other words, it is a glasslaser with optical waveguide properties.
As the Laserradiation is guided through a laseractive fiber, it is enormously amplified due to its great length.
The areas of application for fiberlasern are very broad and suitable for many Laserapplications. Low-powerlaser fibers are used for data transmission in optical fibers. High-power systems are also used for Laser cutting and Laser welding.
Simply put, a femtosecondlaser is a Laser that emits light pulses with a duration in the femtosecond range. They are used in the fields of photonics and non-linear optics, measurement technology and medicine.
The galvanometer scanner is also often referred to as a galvo scanner or galvo for short. The galvos are electromagnetically driven rotary axes, at the end of which there is a Lasermirror for deflecting Laserbeams. The galvanometer is named after the Italian doctor and researcher Luigi Galvani.
The green Laser is easy to recognize - it produces a visual light in a light green color. The wavelength of the Laser, also known as greenLaser, is 532 m.
It produces no heat and is therefore referred to as cold Laser or cold markinglaser. The green Laser is often used in the area of Lasermarkings with sensitive surfaces. For example, cold markinglaser can be used to optimally process plastic.
Another outstanding feature of a green Laser is its high stability and blasting quality.
For materials that cannot be optimally marked with a conventional 1064 nm wavelengthlaser (fiberlaser), the green Laser is the solution.
CO2 Laser are predestined for wood processing. Whether you are cutting Laserwith theCO2 Laser or engraving - this Lasersystem is the ideal solution! Whether it is solid wood, natural wood, softwood, hardwood, solid wood, wood-based materials, bamboo, balsa wood, mahogany, lime, beech, poplar, birch, maple, Douglas fir, spruce, pine, fir, copper beech, oak, ash, cherry, walnut, abachi, padouk, teak, veneer, plywood, glued wood, MDF, multiplex -CO2 Laser engraves or cuts without chip waste. Extremely fine, almost radius-free contours can be realized in the Lasercutting area. The use of theCO2 Laser eliminates odor and waste, as Lasercutting is contactless. So there is a lot to be said for using aCO2 Laser in the field of wood processing.
in 1964, C. Kumar N. Patel developed theCO2 Laser at Bell Laboratories. Colloquially, this powerful Laser is also known as carbon dioxidelaser. Its Lasermedium is carbon dioxide with a 4-level system.
Alongside the solid-statelasern, the carbon dioxidelaser is one of the most powerful Lasern and is used in many areas of industry. TheCO2 Laser can achieve output powers of up to 80 kW and pulse energies of up to 100 kJ.
CO2 Laser are relatively efficient and inexpensive and the efficiency is around 15% to 20%.
The first Laser were built in 1958. The foundations were laid by the American C.T. Townes and the two Russians N.G. Basov and A.m. Prokhorov in the 1950s. Prokhorov in the 1950s and were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their work. The name Laser is derived from the English term light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.
Today, Laser is used in many areas of industry, manufacturing and medicine. The range of applications extends from engraving and marking to cutting.
If objects are labelled, marked or individualized using a Laser, this is referred to as Laserlettering or Laserengraving. Laserlettering is naturally waterproof, smudge-proof and therefore ideal for permanent marking.
The aim is to achieve an increase in strength by transforming the structure of steel and cast iron materials. Suitable and powerful diodes are used for Laserbeam hardeninglaser. The technology is based on heating the material to approx. 900 to 1,500 degrees Celsius and then cooling it - also known as quenching.
The laser beam hardening technology is characterized by low costs compared to conservative technologies.
As a rule, mach uses a high-energy Laser for marking, engraving or labeling. As the surface is processed by a Laser without contact, this area of application for Lasern is extremely popular. Laser engravings are also characterized by their durability and longevity. Laserengravings are therefore often used for marking, documentation and individualization. A typical Laser for engraving surfaces is carbon dioxidelaser, also known as CO2-Laser or carbon dioxidelaser.
DIN E&N 60825-1:2015-07 divides Laser into 8 classes. Class 1 describes Laser and Laserdevices that do not pose a risk to people if handled with care. The highest class, class 4 in DIN EN 60825-1:2015-07, includes high-performancelaser systems. These Lasersystems are exclusively for users with appropriate expertise.
When solids are cut through by Laserradiation, this is known as Lasercutting. Modern Laser cut complex structures and geometries from almost any conceivable material with extreme precision. Pulsed Laser and continuous Lasersources are used for Lasercutting. Laser cutting is particularly popular in the metalworking industry. Lasercutting is characterized by maximum precision, efficiency and productivity.
Soldering with Lasern is becoming increasingly relevant in various areas of industry as well as in the service trade. The high process speed, dense, smooth and clean solder seams are another advantage of Lasersoldering. In most cases, a diodelaser is used, and brazing solder - such as a copper-silicon wire - is used for the connection.
Modern medicine would also be unthinkable without Laser. In some areas, Lasertechnology has established itself, as innovative treatment concepts are possible with the help of diodeslasern or Co2 Lasern. Other areas, such as the removal of tattoos, have only become possible thanks to the corresponding nanosecondLaser.
Laser are used in these areas:
- General surgery -CO2 Laser
- Vascular treatment - diodeslaser
- Hair removal - diodeslaser
- Skin tightening - often cO2 Laser
- Scar treatment -CO2 Laser
- Proctology - diodeslaser
Fiberlaser are primarily used here. Whether you are marking aluminum, brass, copper, nickel-plated metals, stainless steel and other metals, fiberlaser are the first choice. However, technical plastics such as ABS, PEEK and polycarbonates can also be processed excellently with fiber lasers.
MOPA is the abbreviation for Master Oscillator Power Amplifier. The beam of the MOPA Laseris produced by the master oscillator and the output power is regulated by the optical amplifier (power amplifier). MOPA Laser are preferably used in the field of Laserlabeling and Lasermarking.
The picosecondlaser generates ultrashort light pulses in the picosecond range (pulse duration between 10-9 and 10-12 s). It can be used both in the processing of materials and in cosmetic medicine. Due to the short pulse duration of the Laser, this leads to better shredding of the color particles when removing tattoos, for example, and they are therefore broken down more quickly by the body.
The name of the UV Laser is explained by its wavelength - it works in the ultraviolet range of the light spectrum. More precisely, the wavelength of UVLasern is around a third (355 nm) of the standard wavelength (1064 nm). It is therefore one of the Lasern with a high energy density.
In dentistry, Laser is often offered as an alternative to conventional therapy. In the field of soft tissue surgery, a diodelaser is primarily used.
The Er.YAG/Nd. YAG Laser is used in both soft and hard tissue. Anesthesia can often be dispensed with - the therapy is therefore also referred to as drilling without a drill.