INFLUENCE OF THE NATURE OF OPTICAL FIBERS IN MATERIALS TREATMENT BY ND-YAG LASERS

Of great interest in the use of Nd:YAG lasers is the possibility of tr ansporting the beam inside an optical fiber. Pointed out in this work is the lower degradation of the beam quality using an optical fiber ra ther than using mirrors. The influence of the nature of the fiber (gra ded- and step-index fiber) on the focal point diameter, the position, etc., is compared. From this is demonstrated the interest of a graded- index fiber in materials processing such as cutting or welding and, in the case of laser cladding, the interest of a step-index fiber. It is concluded that materials processing applications can be successful us ing the two fibers according to the results needed.