Fiber laser and amplifier manufacturer IPG Photonics (Oxford, MA) announced successful test of its new 10 kW single-mode fiber laser, a world record in a production laser, with applications in laser remote cutting and welding as well as directed energy. It produces 9.6 kW of single-mode power through a single fiber at total efficiency exceeding 23%, and is being shown at Laser, World of Photonics in Munich this week, just on the heels of IPG's winning a PhAST/LFW Innovation Award for its 5 kW laser (see "Honorable Mention technologies ooze innovation").
Representing the latest development in the power scaling of IPG Photonics' patented high-power single-mode fiber laser technology, the laser's optical scheme consists of a fully-integrated MOPA (master oscillator power amplifier) with an output delivery fiber four meters long directly spliced into the power amplifier. The Company's ten kilowatt single-mode laser, the YLS-10000-SM, will be the world's brightest industrial CW solid state laser, given the combination of output power and virtually perfect Gaussian beam-quality at 1070 nm emission wavelength. Developed by its subsidiary IPG Laser GmbH, the YLS-10000-SM is a turn-key package that offers a small footprint and record efficiency wall-plug.
"The ten kilowatt fiber laser builds on our prior success with the five kilowatt single-mode lasers we introduced earlier this year" said Valentin Gapontsev, CEO of IPG Photonics and an inventor of the new laser. "However, we designed a new state-of-the-art power amplifier to overcome thermal limitations, avoid higher order modes and non-linear effects, despite the enormous power density at this output level" he added.
"Industrial customers can now use fiber lasers for applications which were not previously possible with other lasers, such as remote cutting and welding without expensive assist gases in the infrastructure, automotive, aerospace and shipbuilding industries" said Bill Shiner, VP of Industrial Markets. "Mobile applications such as bridge construction and repair and ship and airplane paint removal can now take advantage of higher output powers in a mobile and robust laser package to increase the distance to the work piece."
This industrial product also has applications in tactical directed energy markets. The combination of ten kilowatts of output power with near-perfect beam quality and the inherent reliability, efficiency and ruggedness of a fiber laser in a compact package is a compelling solution for a variety of tactical directed energy applications.
IPG is at Laser, World of Photonics, Munich, Germany, June 15-18, Booth #370, Hall H2.
For more information, go to www.ipgphotonics.com.
