We all know that fiber lasers have been heard in many fields, so do you know the difference between them and high-power lasers? Let's take a look at it from the perspective of Xiaobian.

The core gain medium of fiber laser is not crystal or gas, but an optical fiber doped with rare earth elements, such as ytterbium-doped fiber. Simply put, it relies on the optical fiber itself to "amplify the optical energy". This design brings many benefits, such as compact structure, good heat dissipation, high beam quality and strong stability.

In fact, the most powerful thing about fiber laser is its beam transmission. The light output by the traditional laser depends on the reflection and focusing of the lens, which has long route and large energy loss; The fiber laser is transmitted directly through optical fiber, and there is almost no energy loss. For automation equipment, this is simply "gospel", which is convenient for wiring and worry-free for maintenance.

And high-power laser, this term is more general, it can be solid-state laser, CO laser, or fiber laser. As long as the output power is high enough, usually above 1000W, we can call it a high-power laser. The characteristics of high power laser are obvious: strong energy, deep penetration and fast cutting speed. For example, cutting, welding, surface quenching, drilling, etc. of thick metal plates basically depend on it.

Fiber lasers are classified according to structure, which emphasizes "the way of laser generation and transmission"; High-power lasers are classified according to output performance, which emphasizes "energy intensity".

In the early days, fiber lasers were not very friendly to the processing of materials outside the infrared band, such as nonmetallic plastics, glass and wood. Co lasers were better. But for the metal processing industry, fiber laser has almost become a standard.