The Rofin DQ series of lasers (see photo) manufactured by Rofin-Sinar Laser GmbH were awarded the iF Design Award at the recent CeBIT information technology trade fair in Hannover, Germany. More than 2700 products from 35 countries were asked to be considered for the prestigious award whose recipients are determined by an international jury of experts.
The external features and appearance of the DQ laser was created by Teams Design from Hamburg. Its clean design accentuates the laser's innovative technical characteristics and conveys a sense of precision and quality. The horizontal shape suggests the direction of the laser beam, which is also highlighted by a fine red line on the housing. These key design elements influenced the judging panel, which considered such criteria as design quality, choice of material, and brand value.
The technical specifications of the DQ series, hidden behind the aesthetic exterior, offer a range of options to meet the specific demands of individual customers and applications. The DQ series is based upon Rofin's reliable diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser sources. The systems are available as Standard, Premium and Premium+ with the variants differing in power, pulse energy and equipment.
The unique principle of the Q-switch, used in this range of lasers, enables peak pulse performance 1000 times higher than cw laser power. Each variant of the DQ series also has the option for single or dual cavities mounted within the housing. This arrangement eliminates the need for separate utilities, doubles the capacity of the laser, and at the same time reduces the footprint thus saving valuable space in areas such as clean rooms. The individual cavities can operate independently offering two beam sources from the same housing.
The beam delivery to the application point is achieved using fibre optics of 600 µm diameter for the Standard variant and 800 µm diameter for the Premium & Premium+ variants. A new square fibre is also available and this provides the greatest efficiency for surface treatment applications. Compared with a round fibre, a square fibre can handle up to a 51% larger surface area, and with the square geometry large areas are processed more efficiently especially when overlapping is required.