Optical fibres for material processing lasers

Fibre transmission of high-power radiation has opened the laser a new dimen sion of material processing applications, The three-dimensional treatment r evolutionised a far field of the production technology. One impressed examp le is the laser welding process in the automotive industry, The Nd-YAG soli d state laser in combination with the optical fibre increase the automation and the flexibility of a whole industry. The next generation of Audis alum inium alloy car body is mainly welded by fibre-guided Nd-YAG laser beams, S ince the past 10 years the maximum average laser power transmitted through optical fibres increase from some 100 W up to 10 kW. For industrial applica tion only Nd-YAG lasers and recently the diode lasers are economically suit ed for fibre transmission, (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserv ed.