The tiny laser system operates at room temperature

compact fiber laser

Introduction to the compact fiber laser

An international team of researchers has presented the world’s most compact fiber laser that can operate in the visible range at room temperature. Such a laser system emits a green coherent laser beam at room temperature; it is possible to detect the light with the naked eye by applying a conventional optical microscope.

Material and design of the laser system

The small fiber laser system utilizes halide perovskite as its material. This material enables them to produce coherent stimulated laser beam emission and to confine electromagnetic energy. The generation of laser beam radiation at room temperature requires “fabrication of a cubic-shaped, 310-nm nanoparticle from the perovskite and photoexciting it with a femtosecond laser pulse.”

Laser generation and threshold process

The design of the laser system efficiently reduces the stimulated emission energy, leading to a high enough amplification of electromagnetic fields for laser beam generation. The researchers claim that fiber laser generation is regarded as a threshold process: the nanoparticle with a laser beam pulse is excited, and then this particle creates laser emission at a specific ‘threshold’ intensity of the external source.

Room temperature operation

Insufficiently reduced light prevents the emission of a laser beam. Additionally, it is not required to use external pressure or a very low temperature for the nanoparticle to work as a fiber laser system. This type of system has already been tested and demonstrated effects described at a regular atmospheric pressure and at room temperature.

Potential applications

Fiber laser technology is regarded as highly promising for producing optical chips, sensors, and other devices that employ laser beam light to transfer and process information, containing chips for optical computers. The green portion of the visible spectrum creates obstacles for the development of laser systems, leading to challenges for room-temperature nanolasers made of conventional semiconductor materials.

Advantages of green fiber lasers

Fiber lasers that operate in the visible range are more compact than red and infrared (IR) sources with the same properties. “The volume of a small laser typically has a cubic dependence on the emission’s wavelength, and as the wavelength of green laser beam light is three times less than that of IR light, the limit of miniaturization is much greater for green fiber laser systems.”

Fiber laser welding with filler material

fiber laser welding

Overview of fiber laser welding

The fiber laser welding technology keeps expanding as a promising method with advancements in weld quality, dependability, and efficiency. Most fiber laser welding applications are regarded as autogenous, which means the weld is created entirely by melting parts of the base metal, and no additional filler wire or powder is applied.

Applications and need for filler material

Welding applications of a laser beam are almost always autogenous for a huge variety of materials. There are specific materials and challenging applications of laser systems that need the use of filler material in the welding process, resulting in great improvements.

Advantages of fiber laser welding with filler material

The improved fiber laser system provides better joint fit-up tolerance, avoiding solidification cracking during the welding process. The laser system welding changes the chemical composition or the microstructure of the weld metal to obtain suitable mechanical properties, as well as improves the weld profile.

Types of filler material

It is possible to use powder or wire filler material during laser beam welding. Most industrial laser system applications are based on wire use. The main reason for its use is regarded as low cost because generally, powder feedstock is more expensive than wire for most materials.

Factors affecting quality and process

Fiber laser welding with filler wire depends on several conditions that define quality, process speed, and cost. For instance, “the wire feed rate is dependent on welding speed, the cross-sectional area of the gap between the joint face and cross-sectional area of the filler wire.” The application of filler wire in a laser system usually leads to a 10-20% reduction in welding speed, for a given laser beam power, to compensate for the fiber laser energy that has to be used to melt the wire.

Laser beam and filler wire interaction

Laser beam-filler wire interaction also plays a crucial role. The short length of the wire interferes with the wire from being melted at the initial part of the bead; therefore, the laser beam directly leads to the material being melted. The long length of wire, in turn, causes the extended wire end to be pressed against the plate surface.

Importance of focused spot size

It is necessary to pay careful attention to the focused spot size: it should be close to the filler wire diameter because a small spot size of the fiber laser system compared to the wire diameter results in welds with porosity because the filler wire has not melted properly.

Applications and effectiveness

Finally, the fiber laser technology has been tested and demonstrated that fiber laser welding, applying filler wire, provides effective in producing high-quality, robust welds with improved fit-up, reduced weld cracking, and better weld profile. It is possible to use fiber laser systems in a wide range of applications, such as aerospace, automotive, and many industrial fabricating applications.

Super pulsed fiber laser system for urology

fiber laser technology in medicine

Innovative fiber laser technology in medicine

A company-manufacturer of medical devices presented innovative fiber laser technology that allows for decreasing treatment time and increasing procedural efficiency. The super pulsed laser system is based on the thulium fiber laser technology developed for stone lithotripsy and soft tissue applications.

Regulatory approval and initial testing

The presented laser system obtained the regulatory approval that enables the application of the fiber laser in the medical world globally. The fiber laser system has already been tested on synthetic kidney stones and demonstrated that this technology can dust stones in half the time it takes other systems, while also creating a fine dust that is easily removed.

Clinical advantages of the super pulsed fiber laser

The laser beam application in early cases leads to the system having practically no retropulsion at chosen settings, and the fiber laser provides accurate soft tissue cutting with visibly improved hemostasis capability. The super pulsed thulium fiber laser system changes the game rules in medicine.

Faster stone fragmentation and patient benefits

The laser system is considered to be faster; it dusts stones into tiny particles that more easily wash out during the procedure, which is a crucial advantage for patients. “When kidney stone fragments don’t clear during or after the lithotripsy procedure, they can potentially grow into bigger stones that lead to future stone-related events such as painful colic and the need for urgent intervention.”

Superior performance and a unique laser module

This fiber laser technology is regarded as highly promising and even superior in several features and performance metrics. The operating principle of the fiber laser is based on a laser module configuration unique within the medical area, providing the broadest range of settings available, containing very low energies and high laser beam frequencies that can transmit superior performance across a range of applications.

Optimized wavelength and energy absorption

The laser beam has energy emitted at 1940 nanometers (the optimal wavelength for peak absorption in water), and it is possible to increase energy absorption four times greater than conventional fiber laser systems used as the current standard of care market today. Also, the super pulsed fiber laser provides ergonomic and environmental benefits.

Compact and efficient design

This laser system is very compact compared to similar systems; for example, it fits on a standard wheeled OR cart, as well the fiber laser demonstrates higher efficiency, while it needs just a standard 110-volt power outlet. The fiber laser system is significantly quieter than other systems, producing 50% less noise at comparable settings.

Fiber laser systems change the world

fiber lasers in quantum technologies

Role of fiber lasers in quantum technologies

Numerous quantum laser technologies imply the application of narrow-linewidth tunable diode lasers, amplified and frequency-doubled laser systems, frequency combs, and wavelength meters. Fiber lasers play a crucial role in quantum technologies. For instance, the laser systems are considered to be a product of the first quantum revolution, but their use is not limited to just optical quantum technologies. The fiber laser systems are widely utilized in numerous quantum setups.

Laser sources as the foundation for quantum networks

Laser beam light sources create the basis for quantum networks, i.e., “photons are regarded as the natural carriers of quantum states over long distances.” Laser systems are important in the production of such devices as quantum computers, quantum sensors, and optical clocks. Fiber laser technology offers total control over all degrees of freedom of the laser beam light, quite often at the quantum limit, resulting in an incredible way to start, manipulate, and read out various quantum tools.

Key qualities of fiber laser systems

Laser systems provide such qualities as wavelength, linewidth, power, polarization, temporal, and spatial laser beam profiles. A single-frequency fiber laser system is not always suitable for several applications.

Applications in atom control and cooling

For example, two phase-locked laser systems allow operating transitions in atoms that a single fiber laser could not manage. The laser beams can be applied as optical traps in order to direct the movement of the atoms. One more application includes cooling atoms as far as the absolute ground state, required in total control over the spectral qualities.

Scaling quantum computers with fiber lasers

High-powered laser beams are essential when scaling quantum computers, where it is necessary to address each ion individually. Fiber laser systems are perfect in operation with optical amplifiers, for example, semiconductor-based tapered amplifiers, and spectral qualities provided by laser technology enable them to inherit. “Starting from a single laser system that is tailored to offer the required, very specific spectral qualities, laser beam splitting and concatenation of tapered amplifiers provides the necessary scalability.”

Multiple laser systems in complex setups

It is not surprising that numerous setups are needed for several fiber laser systems (some a dozen of them), all with various properties, taking into account the relevance and versatility of lasers for quantum technologies. Certain applications of quantum computers require a few laser systems of the same type in one setup, increasing the total number to tens of lasers.

3D printing of multi-materials by a fiber laser system

fiber laser selective sintering

Selective sintering with fiber laser technology

The selective sintering based on fiber laser technology is considered to be a process that applies a laser system to heat powder materials, leading to the fusion of micron-scale particles to create a solid mass. This technique finds its popularity in numerous manufacturing processes today. Previously, laser technology has been limited to printing with one material at a time.

Overcoming the limitations of single-material printing

The problem has been overcome by changing the whole laser system process to provide printing with multiple materials. Scientists moved the fiber laser so that it points upward instead of downward into the heated place, leading to no need for a powder bed.

Use of glass plates and powder coating

The scientists installed several transparent glass plates, and they coated them with a thin layer of various plastic powders. They make a print platform lower onto the upper surface of one powder, therefore, directing a laser beam of high quality upward from below the plate and through the bottom.

Advantages of multi-material sintering

This fiber laser technology enables numerous materials to either be combined into a single layer or stacked. Thus, a large powder bed is not required anymore because it promotes the sintering of various powders in a single layer. Also, a prototype laser system has already been tested and shows “a 50-layer-thick, 2.18-mm sample out of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) powder with an average layer height of 43.6 μm, and a multi-material nylon and TPU print with an average layer height of 71 μm.”

Stronger and denser materials with fiber lasers

The fiber laser system for 3D printing offers such qualities as the feasibility of the process and the capability to make stronger, denser materials by pressing the plate hard against the hanging part during the process of sintering by the fiber laser.

Future applications of fiber laser 3D printing

Finally, the scientists claim that laser technology is regarded as highly promising and can find potential applications in printing embedded circuits, electromechanical components, and even robot components. Laser beams enable to production of machine parts with graded alloys, whose composition transforms gradually from one end to another.

Expanding opportunities for additive manufacturing

The opportunities of laser systems for sintering will be greatly expanded toward a wider variety of industries by allowing the production of complex multi-material parts without assembly. The fiber laser technology can change the additive manufacturing industry from printing only passive uniform parts, toward printing active integrated systems.