If there is an obvious trend in the field of laser technology, it is the rise of fiber laser pointer. In high-power cutting and welding applications, fiber lasers have seized a large market share from high-power CO2 lasers and solid-state lasers. At present, some mainstream fiber laser manufacturers are exploring many new applications to meet more market demands.
In high-power fiber lasers, single-mode systems have satisfactory characteristics: they have high brightness and can be focused to a few microns to the highest intensity. They also have the largest depth of focus, which makes them the most suitable for remote machining. However, they are difficult to manufacture, and only market-leading US IPG Photonics can provide a system with single-mode 10kW power. Unfortunately, there are no details about its beam characteristics, especially any possible multi-mode components that may exist with a single-mode beam.
Funded by the German government, a team of scientists from Germany ’s Friedrich Schiller University and Fraunhofer Institute of Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (Fraunhofer IOF) collaborates with TRUMPF, Active Fiber Systems, Jenoptik and Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology , Analyzed the challenges of increasing the power of this laser, and then developed a new fiber to overcome these limitations. The team successfully completed a series of tests, showing a 4.3kW single-mode output, where the fiber red laser pointer output is limited only by the input pump power.