Beam quality can sometimes be an overlooked quality of a laser; however, this characteristic provides several advantages, such as faster and finer-feature machining, better process quality and an increased depth of focus. High beam quality laser has strong focusing capabilities and allows for a longer working distance which means that these types of lasers can be used in rough working environments without damaging the optics and the laser itself.
Beam quality is defined by M2, which represents a ratio of the beam of the laser and the perfect beam; consequently, the closer M2 is to 1, the better the quality of the laser beam. High beam quality lasers have M2 of less than 1,3. Due to the aforementioned reasons, lasers with high beam quality are very precise as they can produce an optical spot down to 20 microns. The best beam quality is produced by single mode lasers with M2 values around 1,1 – 1,2.
High-quality beam lasers prove to be useful in a variety of different applications:
- Micro machining
The fine-tune nature of high-quality beam lasers is used to conduct machining operations on a small scale – drilling, slotting, cutting, etc. Laser surface engraving, for instance, is a process of emergence of small cracks in a material (around 100μm in size) under the pressure of melting and evaporation that occurs when a laser beam hits a surface.
- Surface scrubbing
High beam quality provides consistency in scrubbing quality and high tolerance to defocusing during removal of thin materials from other films or a substrate. The low M2 does not result in quality degradation when the laser defocuses. The defocusing of a system occurs due to an uneven working surface, and lasers with high M2 can potentially result in a decreased production yield.
- Removal of skin pigment and dye
High beam quality lasers are used to remove skin pigmentation and tattoos.
Generally, gas lasers, like CO2 lasers, exhibit a high beam quality. Optromix CO2 lasers demonstrate outstanding results in processing different types of materials with varied thickness. In Optromix, we aim to provide the best experience to our customers, and we will configure your laser system exactly according to your requirements. If you would like to buy high beam quality lasers, please Contacts at info@optromix.com or +1 617 558 98 58.