An Introduction to Industrial Laser Systems
Industrial laser systems play an integral role within the manufacturing industry. Industrial laser systems have a high functionality, as they have the ability to cut through materials such as metal, weld materials together or simply engrave. They serve their purpose using a high level of precision and accuracy, efficiently creating products free of error. Using elaborate industrial laser systems allows manufacturing professionals to increase manufacturing capacity and optimise precision, creating handy products used in everyday life, such as mirrors. Whilst laser systems are often expensive, they reap many benefits, working more efficiently and with a higher productivity than humans.
Depending on the task at hand, industrial laser systems operate using different levels of power, colour and beam sizes. As previously mentioned, some industrial laser systems will cut through metal using more powerful and larger beam sizes, whilst the power of a laser used to engrave a material will differ dramatically. The light emitted by a laser similarly changes based on the function of the industrial laser system.
The word ‘laser’ is an acronym for ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation’, which succinctly describes how lasers work. Below we have discussed this in more depth.
Normally, light is made up of many different colours and wavelengths, mixing together to create specific colours. However, lasers are powerful as they only emit one type of light and colour, meaning that industrial laser systems are monochromatic. As they only emit one colour, they only emit one wavelength.
Lasers can either emit beams which are visible, infrared or ultraviolet depending on its application. The light is amplified in order to create different levels of power, with infrared having the lowest wavelength frequency and therefore least powerful, visible light sitting in the middle, and ultraviolet is the most powerful, with the highest wavelength frequency. The light emitted is coherent and very directional, meaning all photons which create the light move in one direction in unison.
Industrial lasers systems vary depending on their function, but generally can be divided into gas lasers, solid state lasers and liquid lasers. The choice of the material (gas, solid or liquid) inside the cavity of the industrial laser system determines the wavelength of output and inherently the power of the beam.
Whilst industrial laser systems are immensely intricate, they have undoubtedly been one of the most significant inventions of the 20th century, accelerating our understanding of electronics, computer hardware, medicine and experimental science.