In industrial high power laser welding and cutting applications there is an increasing need for high-speed process monitoring and control to meet industry demands on increased productivity, quality, traceability and reproductivity as Industry 4.0 standards are adapted. The latest generation of Coherent’s QD Fiber Optic Cables has the option for integrated process monitoring sensors and functions inside of the fiber cable connector (SmartQD). This provides a compact process monitoring solution, with no need for installation of additional equipment, where the sensors come prealigned out of the box for monitoring parallel to the optical axis. The water-cooled QD fiber connector provides protection from the industrial environment and keeps the sensors at a defined temperature. With carefully selected and developed optics and electronics the sensors inside the SmartQD connector captures process light at three different wavelength ranges: back-reflected laser light, near infrared (1200 – 1600 nm) and visible (300 – 700 nm). The SmartQD sensors have a maximum bandwidth of 500 kHz, > 12 ENOB. The connector itself is equipped with an industrial electrical connector with either analog or digital data interface. The process data is then evaluated with an external program. In this paper we present welding result on various materials, such as aluminum and mild steel using the SmartQD fiber cable. We present results on detecting weld defects and imperfections caused by for example loss of focal position, misalignment, and material surface defects. Defects and imperfections that are resolved include lack of penetration, incomplete fusion, spattering, undercut, and blow-out.
Transmitting high power laser light through fiber optic cables has been used in industrial environments for years. Designing fiber optic cables for industrial environments requires robust solutions able to handle high power losses without compromise either to process quality or to safety. Internal water cooling, where the optical fiber is in direct contact with water, in combination with an efficient cladding mode-stripper the optical fiber cable has superior advantages handling high power losses. In this paper we will present recent power-handling data for the new series of the well-known standards QBH and QD (LLK-D) fiber optic cables launched by Optoskand. The new series are designed with a combination of materials and internal water cooling.
In industrial applications using high-brilliance lasers at power levels up to and exceeding 20 kW and similarly direct
diode lasers of 10 kW, there is an increasing demand to continuously monitor component status even in passive
components such as fiber-optic cables. With fiber-optic cables designed according to the European Automotive Industry
fiber standard interface there is room for integrating active sensors inside the connectors. In this paper we present the
integrated active sensors in the new Optoskand QD fiber-optic cable designed to handle extreme levels of power losses,
and how these sensors can be employed in industrial manufacturing. The sensors include photo diodes for detection of
scattered light inside the fiber connector, absolute temperature of the fiber connector, difference in temperature of
incoming and outgoing cooling water, and humidity measurement inside the fiber connector. All these sensors are
connected to the fiber interlock system, where interlock break enable functions can be activated when measured signals
are higher than threshold levels. It is a very fast interlock break system as the control of the signals is integrated in the
electronics inside the fiber connector. Also, since all signals can be logged it is possible to evaluate what happened inside
the connector before the interlock break instance. The communication to the fiber-optic connectors is via a CAN
interface. Thus it is straightforward to develop the existing laser host control to also control the CAN-messages from the
QD sensors.
In industrial laser cladding applications various new possibilities have opened up by introduction of laser sources with
powers over 10 kW. Higher laser power allows higher deposition rates, which enables new applications for example in
heavy engineering. However, to fully utilize the high power, beam area in focus needs to be increased significantly
compared to for example welding. For high brightness lasers, this often requires complicated processing optics as the
beam is usually Gaussian when defocused. In most surface treatment applications process would benefit from
homogenous intensity distribution instead of a Gaussian one. In this paper we present ideas for cladding applications
using a 12 kW disc laser coupled into a square-formed fiber with a 1000x1000 μm-core. The output of the fiber is
collimated by a newly developed collimator based on cylindrical lenses with an 1:3.3 aspect ratio of focal lengths. The
asymmetrically collimated beam is then condensed to a homogeneous rectangular spot on the work-piece using an f=500
mm focusing unit. With this setup we reach a spot size of 7.4x2.2 mm = 16.3 mm2, implying laser power densities up to
740 W/mm2.
The asymmetric collimator is based on efficiently water-cooled cylindrical lenses with different focal lengths. Having
interchangeable fiber connector interfaces and Optoskand's standard exit interface, the collimator can easily be
implemented in optical heads. We present results on the optics performance including power transmission, image quality
and focal shifts at power levels up to 12 kW. Results of preliminary cladding tests using the asymmetrical optics and offaxis
tandem wire feeding will also be presented orally. Deposition rate and efficiency using high power levels will be
investigated. Analyses of cladding bead geometry and microstructure will be performed.
High laser power levels in combination with increasing beam quality bring optics performance into focus, particularly
with regard to systems with low focal shifts along the optical axis. In industrial applications, this often influences the
overall performance of the process, especially if the focal shift is comparable to or in excess of the Rayleigh length. It is
commonly accepted that the focal shifts are of thermal nature where lens material, lens coating, geometry and surface
contamination all contribute to the direction and extent of the focal shifts. In this paper we will present a novel design of
lens packages where a patented all-in-quartz concept is explored. By mounting quartz lenses in hermetically sealed
quartz tubes and applying water cooling on the perimeter of the quartz tubes we will reduce or eliminate a number of
contributing factors to focal shift problems. The hermetic sealing, carried out in a clean-room environment, will
minimize lens surface contamination. Differences in thermal expansion between lens and housing are eliminated as the
lens and housing will be of the same material. Absorption of scattered laser light will be efficient as the energy is
removed quickly by cooling water and not absorbed by fixed surroundings. Finally, indirect heating from the housing
transmitted by radiation and convection to the lenses is avoided. Values of the normalized System Focal Shift Factors
(SFSF) for the all-in-quartz optics will be compared to standard lens assemblies at multi-kW laser power levels.
We demonstrate an all-fiber 7x1 signal combiner for incoherent laser beam combining. This is a potential key
component for reaching several kW of stabile laser output power. The combiner couples the output from 7 single-mode
(SM) fiber lasers into a single multi-mode (MM) fiber. The input signal fibers have a core diameter of 17 μm and the
output MM fiber has a core diameter of 100 μm. In a tapered section light gradually leaks out of the SM fibers and is
captured by a surrounding fluorine-doped cladding. The combiner is tested up to 2.5 kW of combined output power and
only a minor increase in device temperature is observed. At an intermediate power level of 600 W a beam parameter
product (BPP) of 2.22 mm x mrad is measured, corresponding to an M2 value of 6.5. These values are approaching the
theoretical limit dictated by brightness conservation.
Fiber-to-fiber coupling between two different fibers is a state of the art technology. Products are available on the market
where multimode fibers can be coupled with very low power loss, at very high powers (multi-kilowatt). We have,
however, always been forced to accept a certain loss in beam quality, manifesting as an increase in the Beam Parameter
Product (BPP). In fundamental-mode fiber-to-fiber coupling no beam quality is lost. We instead expect to have a certain
power loss in the coupling.
This paper addresses the problems in free-space fundamental-mode fiber-to-fiber coupling, including theoretical
estimations of expected power loss, estimated demands on the stability of the optics as well as measured values on a
fundamental mode fiber-to-fiber coupler.
The theoretical calculations of the sensitivity of the coupling efficiency due to radial misalignment and defocus
(longitudinal displacement) have been confirmed experimentally. Experimental results at 100 W laser power include
88% coupling efficiency using a large mode area fiber with mode-field diameter (MFD) of 18 μm and 75 % coupling
efficiency using a single-mode fiber with MFD of 6.4 μm.
High laser power levels combined with increasing beam quality bring optics performance into focus. The subject of
optics performance is a hot topic, but lack of a common nomenclature, as well as of proper measurements, makes the
situation confusing. This paper will introduce a nomenclature for comparing the performance of different types of optics.
Further, the paper will present a test setup for characterizing optics, along with test results for different optics materials
and designs. The main influence of high power levels on optics is a focal shift along the optical axis. In industrial
applications, this might influence the performance of the process, especially if the focal shift is in the range of the
Rayleigh length. In the test setup that is to be presented, the optics are exposed to a high power beam, and a pilot beam is
used for measuring the change in focal position. For a proper description of optics performance, the laser beam
parameters should not influence the measured results. In the nomenclature that will be presented, the performance is
related to the Rayleigh length for a fundamental mode beam. The performance of optics when used with multimode
beams will be presented.
We have demonstrated hole injection through a tunnel junction embedded in the GaN-based light emitting diode structure. The tunnel junction consists of 30 nm GaN:Si++ and 15 nm InGaN:Mg++ grown on a GaN-InGaN quantum well heterostructure. The forward voltage of the light emitting diode, included the voltage drop across the reverse-biased tunnel junction, is 4.1 V at 50 Z/cm$_2), while that of a standard light emitting diode with a conventional contact structure is 3.5 V. The light output of the diode with the tunnel junction is comparable to that of the standard device. We then employed the tunnel junction in vertical cavity surface emitting laser structures and dual-wavelength light emitters. In the vertical cavity structure, a good lateral current spreading was accomplished, resulting in uniform emission pattern. The dual-wavelength light emitter has been operated as a three- terminal device with independent electrical control of each LEDs to a nsec time scale.
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