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Laser
Head
At
the heart of the system is U.S. Laser's unique laser head. The head is a
single lamp, single ellipse, close-couples design, optimized for maximum
pumping efficiency. The design produces up to 700 watts with a
small diameter (6.3 mm) rod. The single lamp reduces consumable
costs, while the high efficiency reduces the energy and cooling
requirements as well.
The
head design allows for easy cascading of heads, in a series periodic
resonator. Single and two-head systems are standard, and four-head
systems are available.
An
important feature of the design is that it is tunable: the output power
can be smoothly varied from <20% to 100% of rated power without any
anomalies in the beam characteristics.
U.S.
Laser can also provide high brightness variants of the basic lasers,
where the maximum power has been slightly reduced to significantly
improve the beam quality.
Optical
Enclosure
The
laser heads are contained in an enclosure consisting of a tooling plate
base and a hinged, interlocked cover. An air filtration system
provides a clean, positive pressure, environment for the optics, to
protect against environmental dust.
The
enclosure also includes optics to couple into the optical fiber, and a
combination beam dump shutter/absolute power meter.
Power
Supply / Cooling
Console
The
electronics and cooling system are housed in a caster-mounted
console. The closed loop cooling system features a proportioning
valve controller to maintain constant head temperature, and a high
efficiency heat exchanger for connection to external cooling
water/chiller.
The
electronics include a high efficiency power supply, and a control unit
with status monitoring and protection. All of these lasers may be
computer controlled via digital and analog inputs. Optional IEEE
488/RS232/RS422 computer interface is available.
Work
Area
Enclosure
U.S.
Laser offers a variety of standard and custom work area enclosures to
complement the high power lasers. CDRH Class I and Class IV system
are available.
The
lasers can also be easily integrated into existing CNC or robotic
machines. |
System
Design
U.S.
Laser's fiber optic beam delivery system was designed specifically for
the demands of high power CW and Pulsed Nd:YAG lasers. Particular
attention was paid to power transmission, both to maximize
power-on-target, and to minimize any heating of the optical
system. All lens elements are fused silica, and are sized based on
the full numerical aperture of the fiber. All surfaces (including
the fiber ends) have anti-reflection coatings. The result is a
transmission of >96% through the entire optical system.
Fiber
Type
U.S.
Laser offers both step index and gradient index (GRIN) fibers. The
step index fiber produces a top-hat focused spot, whose size stays
constant, even when the output power is changed. The GRIN fiber
produces a parabolic profile, with a spot size smaller than a step index
fiber. The choice of fiber type is generally dictated by the needs
of the application.
Optics
The
input optics include an upcollimator and focusing lens (in a three-axis)
adjustable mount). The specific lenses are selected to maximize
power transmission and minimize beam quality degradation for the
specific laser configuration. U.S. Laser's standard end effector is a
two stage optical system, incorporating a collimating lens and a
focusing lens. The focusing lenses are easily inter-changeable,
for easy variation of spot size and working
distance.
Optional
End
Effectors
For
specific applications, additional accessories can be added to the basic
end effector.
For
welding, a coaxial gas nozzle is available to provide an inert cover
gas. The gas flow is solenoid controlled, through the system
computer.
For
cutting, the gas nozzle design provides a high velocity gas stream
(either inert or assist gas).
For
viewing, coaxial parfocal CCTV system is available, for alignment and
monitoring.
For
beam sharing or splitting requirements, a module is available to provide
either.
|
High Power Multimode
Q-Switched Lasers |
|
Model # |
Max Output |
Beam Diameter |
Divergence |
|
|
(watts) |
(mm) |
(mr) |
| 404 |
150 |
6 |
12-14 |
| 405 |
250 |
6 |
12-16 |
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