As soon as fiber lasers made their way into the market, they began to have a positive impression on the people using them. Many have argued that the technological improvement of the laser cutter is more efficient and more accurate than any of the other lasers out there.
This, in itself, is a huge part of why so many companies are updating their machinery and turning to fiber lasers.
What is a Fiber Laser?
A fiber laser is a special type of laser, where the beam’s delivery, as well as the laser cavity are built together into a single system. This system is located in an optical fiber, and the laser beam is created in that fiber. This is different than traditional lasers, since the traditional beam was created outside of the system and then sent into it. Based on the difference in their build design, fiber lasers are seen as being in their own category, called solid-state laser. Everything is being generated and created in one system.
Let’s Focus on the Fiber
The fiber laser itself consists of:
- Outer cladding;
- Inner cladding;
- Signal;
- Doped core; and
- Pump injection.
The medium that is being used in a fiber laser is an optical fiber. This optical fiber is doped in rare elements, which usually include erbium, ytterbium, neodymium, dysprosium, thulium, holmium or praseodymium.
The other main types of lasers don’t use this kind of material. Instead, gas lasers use carbon dioxide or helium-neon and crystal lasers use Nd:YAG.
The reason that the fiber laser is doped in rare elements is based on their atom levels. These elements have very powerful energy levels, and that allows for a more-affordable laser pump to be used, while still getting the same amount of energy and power from the laser.
What Does a Fiber Laser Do?
One of the most common uses of the fiber laser is for material processing. This includes laser cutting, laser engraving, laser welding, laser drilling and laser marking.
Additionally, the fiber laser can also be used in the automotive field, the medicinal field, telecommunications, electronics and spectroscopy.
Making the Perfect Cut
Stability
There are benefits to all types of lasers, but the one thing that separates the fiber laser from the rest is its ability to maintain such a stable condition. The stability is the main reason the laser is able to create such perfect cuts through the material it is working with.
Other lasers tend to be very sensitive to movement, and if there is ever any movement or jostling around, the laser is completely thrown off its course. If the optics are misaligned, then an expert needs to come in to reconfigure the machine.
Keep in mind other laser designs are built with the laser outside, which then flows in. This makes other lasers very sensitive and hard to work with, and any movement can ruin an entire project.
Fiber lasers, on the other hand, have their laser built in the system. This makes them a whole lot more stable than other machines. The stability allows for the laser to stay in its place, saving time and costs on every project.
Laser Quality
The beam of the fiber laser is built in the system, which means that it has an ultra-focused dot following a very specific path. This dot can be altered to become incredibly tiny, and therefore even the most detailed of cuts can be completed easily and efficiently.
Even now, fiber laser power is being improved with the latest design offering as high as 6kWof power output. Additionally, while other lasers only input a small portion of power to their lasers, fiber lasers use 70% to 80% of power to the laser.
Increased power output and highly-focused energy allowed for fiber cutters to create perfect cuts every time.
The Benefits of Fiber Lasers
- The design is essentially maintenance-free.
With fiber lasers, there are no moving parts or mirrors in connection with the light-generating source, which makes it a much simpler design than gas CO2 or disk lasers. Without the need for many maintenance checks and repairs, companies are saving time and money. - Higher electrical efficiency.
After some research, it seems as though a 3kW fiber laser was able to use one-third of the energy that a 4kW CO2 machine used. Higher electrical efficiency means quicker project times and less costs. - Great with reflective materials.
The design of the fiber laser reduces the risk of back reflections ruining the machine. This is often a problem with other lasers but can be performed easily with a fiber laser on copper, gold, brass and aluminum materials. - Faster cutting capabilities.
When using thinner materials, the fiber laser was able to cut much faster, and with the same amount of, if not more, accuracy. The 3kW fiber laser cut a 1mm stainless steel piece three times faster than a 4kW CO2 laser.
Disadvantages of Fiber Lasers
The fiber laser tends to struggle when it is required to cut anything thicker than 5mm. CO2 laser machines actually perform better on thicker materials, with the ability to cut a more precise line at a faster speed than the fiber laser.
While there are obvious advantages to the fiber laser and its ability to make the perfect cut, some businesses are wary about its ability to cut thicker materials.
For companies that need to cut on a range of thicknesses, many still go with a traditional laser to ensure they get the perfect cut. However, the fiber laser is arguably a more precise, more efficient laser on thinner materials, and could be advantageous to a business working solely with thinner materials.
