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Coherent showcases direct-diode acquisition

A new addition to the Coherent booth is the Nuvonyx portfolio of high-power laser diode systems for industrial materials processing. On show was the first in the new range of HighLight direct-diode products, a 4 kW direct-diode system that can be used for surface cladding, heat treatment and welding applications.

John Haake, who originally worked for Nuvonyx and is now Coherent’s director for applications engineering and product management, stressed the importance of the acquisition for both businesses. “You need vertical integration to succeed in the laser diode market,” he said. “Coherent has a lot of expertise in producing laser diodes with good beam quality, while we know how to put high-power laser diodes together to form a multi-kilowatt source.”

One key application for the 4 kW system lies in surface cladding, in which a material in powder form is applied to the surface of a metal part to provide it with particular functional properties, such as improved wear resistance. The system, which incorporates an array of 808 nm laser bars and micro-optics technology to shape the beam output, can form a cladding layer with a width of about 10 mm at speed of about 0.5 m per minute, depending on the demand of the application. That means that about 3 kg of powder material can be applied every hour.

According to Haake, using lasers for such large-area surface cladding applications delivers equal, if not better, performance than conventional techniques such as TIG (tungsten inert gas) and plasma welding, but can be much quicker because only a single pass is required to produce the cladding layer. In contrast, conventional arc-welding processes nearly always require multiple passes to achieve a cladding layer with the required material properties.

Matthias Schulze, Coherent’s technical marketing director, says that the Nuvonyx business will shortly become integrated into the organization as the company’s direct-diode division. “Materials processing is a growth target for us,” he said. “Direct-diode applications offer excellent opportunities to replace traditional materials processing techniques with laser-based technology.”

Posted by Susan Curtis on June 20, 2007 10:52 PM | Permalink