FEATURE
DIODE LASERS
The dark horse of materials processing
Jessica Rowbury asks whether diode lasers will one day take market share from the dominant fibre laser in materials processing
D 18 Electro Optics November 2017
iode lasers currently hold a 25 per cent share of the global market for laser sources for materials processing – sources used in
cutting, welding, marking, and additive manufacturing – while fibre lasers remain ahead with a 40 per cent share, according to a report published earlier in the year by Optech Consulting. CO2 and excimer sources account for 35 per cent of the market, which, according to the firm, grew 15 per cent last year to $1.3 billion. Currently, the main materials processing
applications for diode laser solutions are surface treatments such as cladding or welding, according to Dr Markus Röhner, director of sales in the Healthcare and Industry unit at Jenoptik, where diodes are ‘well established in the industry… for polymers, as well as for metals’. The main benefits of diode lasers are efficient
energy conversion into laser power and low maintenance costs. Diode lasers have traditionally been unfit
for applications such as cutting, because high power diodes have generally been considered to have poor beam quality – at least compared to fibre lasers, which currently dominate laser cutting. However, by improving beam quality
while keeping down costs – which now seems more achievable than in the past – diodes could take a share of large materials processing markets like cutting and marking that have traditionally been held by CO2 and now fibre lasers. ‘With an increased brightness of laser
diodes, more applications with direct diode systems such as cutting of metals will become a reality in the future,’ said Röhner. ‘With a further increase of brightness, marking applications are also imaginable.’
@electrooptics |
www.electrooptics.com
Coherent Dilas
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