SPI Lasers announces new additions to the CW fiber laser range

SOUTHAMPTON, U.K. - June 12, 2013 - PRLog -- 18th April 2013, Southampton, UK, SPI Lasers (http://www.spilasers.com/), a leading designer and manufacturer of fiber lasers announces new additions to the CW fiber laser range designed for cutting, welding and micro-machining applications. The lasers will be launched at LASER World of Photonics Munich, Germany, on the 13th May 2013.

In response to evolving market demand SPI have launched four new lasers within the redPOWER R4 product portfolio. With a range of mode structures at 200W and 500W, the beam shape (M2 values) have been tailored to produce the new redPOWER 500W M2<1.1 and M2~7.5 lasers. These lasers can be used for both cutting and welding applications. The recently released redPOWER R4 200W M2~4 laser and the new 500W M2~15 have both been designed specifically for welding. The increased back reflection tolerance and up to 20m long output fibers have also been included to make these truly flexible industrial solutions.

The new 500W laser with an M2<1.1 has been designed to offer superb high speed cutting ability with speeds exceeding 30 m/min. This laser is capable of cutting up to 6mm mild steel, twice the thickness of the already established 400W model. This capability is due to the same excellent single moded beam quality being maintained even at the increased power, producing significantly higher power intensity with improved depth of field.

The new M2~7.5 laser dispenses with the sharp Gaussian beam profile and spreads the energy across a flatter top. This gives a wider cut kerf and so allows the gas flow to be maintained on thicker materials. In comparison to single mode lasers this gives a 50% increase in cutting speed on stainless steel above 1.5mm thick.

SPI have developed two unique blends of power and beam profile for the welding market. The new 200W LM (M2~4) laser has been designed with end users to provide an efficient solution for producing through welds on thin, or controlled depth penetration on thicker materials.

The 500W M2~15 laser offers an alternative to traditional welding technologies whilst giving the benefits of fiber delivered power in a zero maintenance package.  Both of these lasers precisely control power delivery with the use of modulation (up to 100kHz) to reduce or remove the aesthetically problematic Heat Affected Zone.

SPI offer their 500W lasers with an output fiber of up to 20m in length. This exclusive feature allows SPI customers to easily design the laser into large scale cutting machines and so provide the benefits of fiber delivered laser power to a new range of applications. This combination of 500W and 20m fiber output produces the most efficient method to cut mild & stainless steel plates of 3x1.5 metres at speeds in excess of 30m/min.

Class leading back reflection tolerance has been engineered into all the new lasers ensuring that they can be used in the cutting and welding of the traditionally problematic reflective materials such as aluminium and brass.

These lasers all benefit from SPI’s standard 2 year warranty, ethernet connectivity, and a range of collimated and divergent beam diameter outputs.

Stuart McCulloch, Product Line Manager for SPI’s Medium Power CW Fiber Lasers says, “With the largest variety of power and of beam profiles on the market SPI has opened a new realm of applications for our customers. The additional features such as back reflection tolerance under the harshest of conditions and extremely long output fibers is allowing these lasers to replace much higher powered traditional laser systems for a fraction of the capital and running costs.”

For more information on SPI Lasers visit our website www.spilasers.com. Alternatively come and visit us at the Laser World of Photonics, Munich, Hall C2 Booth 406.

About SPI Lasers

SPI Lasers, a wholly owned subsidiary of the TRUMPF Group, is a leading designer and manufacturer of optical fiber-based lasers for use in materials processing applications in a wide range of industries. Our technology solves manufacturing problems; it moves the boundaries of what is possible, making good products better and enabling new designs. Headquartered in Southampton, United Kingdom, SPI Lasers has been operating since 2000 and was admitted to AIM on 26 October 2005.  SPI Lasers sells its products globally, and has its major business operations, including research and development, and manufacturing, in the United Kingdom, with additional sales and customer support locations in Asia and North America. For more information please visit www.spilasers.com

Zoe Knill

SPI Lasers

Corporate Press and Public Relations