Diode Laser

Hello

• Direct diode bar lasers - http://www.industrial-lasers.com/articles/print/volume-29/issue-3/features/high-power-direct-diode-lasers-for-cutting-and-welding.html
• 60W laser diode running SME - YouTube _ [1]
• Laser kit, 200W, from Nufern for experimental use - [2]. Potentially perfect OSPD collaboration if guarantee market for 1000 devices.

Design

• Neodymium-doped solid state lasers continue to be the laser source of choice for industrial applications. Direct pumping of the upper Nd laser level at 885-nm (rather than at the more traditional broad 808-nm band) offers the potential of improved performance through a reduction in the lasing quantum defect, thereby improving system efficiency, reducing cooling requirements, and enabling further TEM00 power scaling. - [3]

• Nufern - 866.466.0214, nufern.com

Doc

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Steel Cutting Lasers

• 1500W cuts 1/2" steel - [4]
• 1070nm fiber laser - [5]
• CO2 laser appears to be used more for thicker steel, fiber laser for thin steel - [6]
• How fiber lasers work - Fiber lasers belong to the solid state laser group. They generate a laser beam by means of the "seed" laser and amplify it in specially designed glass fibers, which are supplied with energy via pump diodes. With a wavelength of 1.064 micrometers, fiber lasers produce an extremely small focal diameter. As a result, their intensity is up to 100 times higher than that of CO₂ lasers with the same emitted average power. - [7]

Data

• CO2 laser is 10000 nM (10 micron) wavelength, IR

Companies

• Fiber laser companies - [8]
• Pumped diode lasers, combining - [9]

Videos

• 3W cutting 6mm balsa [10]

Sourcing

• 3W complete laser - $60 [11]
• 5W 808 NM pump diode, fiber coupled - $177- [12]
• 40W $80 used - [13]
• 50W - $320 - [14]

• 500W - $2k - [15]

• 500W - $1-2k - [16]

See Also

• Open Source Laser Construction Set

Useful Links

• Wikipedia Page on Laser Diodes