This paper demonstrates that disk-laser technology introduces advantages that increase efficiency and
allows for high productivity in micro-processing in both the nanosecond (ns) and picosecond (ps) regimes.
Some technical advantages of disk technology include not requiring good pump beam quality or special
wavelengths for pumping of the disk, high optical efficiencies, no thermal lensing effects and a possible
scaling of output power without an increase of pump beam quality. With cavity-dumping, the pulse
duration of the disk laser can be specified between 30 and hundreds of nanoseconds, but is independent of
frequency, thus maintaining process stability. TRUMPF uses this technology in the 750 watts average
power laser TruMicro 7050. High intensity, along with fluency, is important for high ablation rates in thinfilm
removal. Thus, these ns lasers show high removal rates, above 60 cm2/s, in thin-film solar cell
production. In addition, recent results in paint-stripping of aerospace material prove the green credentials
and high processing rates inherent with this technology as it can potentially replace toxic chemical
processes. The ps disk technology meanwhile is used in, for example, scribing of solar cells, wafer dicing
and drilling injector nozzles, as the pulse duration is short enough to minimize heat input in the laser-matter
interaction. In the TruMicro Series 5000, the multi-pass regenerative amplifier stage combines high
optical-optical efficiencies together with excellent output beam quality for pulse durations of only 6 ps and
high pulse energies of up to 0.25 mJ.
Lasers have become accepted "tools" by a number of industries. Everything from cars to heart pacemakers to greeting cards are now using lasers to cut, drill, clad, heat treat, and weld/join. The market for industrial laser systems is expanding. For the first quarter of 2004 the sales in lasers systems increased 40% to over $120 million1. Some of this increase in sales may be due to the fact that lasers are now considered reliable and have proven to be economical.
The primary industrial laser systems today are the CO2 and Nd:YAG (lamp pumped) lasers especially at the higher powers. Both laser designs have evolved in power, beam quality, and reliability. At the same time laser manufacturers have developed methods to decrease the fabrication cost for the lasers. While these improvements have had a major impact on the operating cost of lasers, significant additional improvements do not seem possible in the near future for these lasers. As a result other advances in laser technologies (diode, diode pumped Nd:YAG, disc, and Yb fiber) are being examined.
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