Rofin
Rofin’s femtosecond laser, StarFemto is suitable for most precision laser cutting and laser ablation applications on sensitive materials with almost no thermal input.Leading the field in laser technology and systems, Rofin offers a wide range of laser sources and solutions for a broad spectrum of applications and industries. Within this comprehensive portfolio however, Rofin’s Fibre Lasers continue to represent rapid growth year-on-year in terms of new products being developed and also in the overall percentage of orders being fulfilled by Fibre Lasers.
Rofin Fibre lasers have opened up new application areas within precision material processing in many different manufacturing environments as the range of products and power available has continued to increase.
For general purpose marking and ablation of layers in photovoltaic and semi-conductor applications, Rofin’s PowerLine F series offers between 20 and 50 W power from the specially optimized diode pumped, q-switched fiber laser sources. These lasers can be used to process almost all metals and polymeric plastics and the diode-pumped laser source offers a high diode life, providing several thousand operating hours with minimal maintenance requirements.
Rofin’s latest generation of ultra short pulse Fibre lasers have made it possible for medical device manufacturers to produce more innovative and less intrusive devices with greater benefit to patients and at lower costs. This range, which includes the StarFemto, allows medical devices made from virtually any material to be successfully ablated. Applications also include creating machine readable codes for traceability, without any heat affected zone or collateral damage to the surrounding material. It is also possible to selectively remove layers of material without damage or de-lamination of underlying material.
Lasers can, very precisely and repeatably, ablate material from metals, ceramics or polymers. Using ultra-short pulses, either in the picosecond or femtosecond regime, it is possible to created very high peak power pulses which can ablate material without creating thermal damage. This process can either remove an entire surface layer or create microstructures smaller than 15 microns in width.
Rofin’s StarFemto series of laser sources produce laser pulses shorter than 1 picosecond to accomplish precise and selective ablation of work-piece surfaces using the ablation process – the ideal basis for micro structuring, drilling, cutting or scribing.
For welding, scribing and cutting applications, the StarFiber laser sources provide nominal power ranges of 100 watts to 600 watts at fundamental mode beam quality and can be operated in either pulsed or cw mode. StarFiber laser sources provide an extremely small spot diameter, enabling high welding speeds to be achieved. These lasers are used for a wide spectrum of applications, such as fine laser cutting as required in the medical device industry when processing implants etc.
Rofin’s latest addition to this range is the 100 / 200 OEM which offers the shortest ‘Trigger to Light’ time, that is the shortest switch-on delay, especially useful for laser cutting of thin section sheets and tubular components like stents. In comparison with other beam sources available on the market, this laser offers a significantly higher peak pulse power over a wide frequency range. This peak pulse power is also available at high repetition rates of up to 170 kHz, delivering a very small heat affected zone and an extraordinarily good cut quality.
At the high power end of the range, Rofin’s FL Series lasers deliver high performance and are suitable for laser cutting and laser welding applications. The wavelength emitted, in the range of 1 µm, achieves high absorption in many materials. All common solid-state laser applications can be performed with the FL Series lasers. Using the multi-mode version of the FL laser, fiber optics of 50 to 800 µm can be used. The single-mode version produces exceptionally good beam quality. (in the range of ≤ 0.4 mm x mrad).
The excellent beam quality also enables the efficient use of scanner systems for high-speed positioning as well as the fast and precise application of small geometries on work-pieces, reducing cycle times and increasing productivity.
For easy integration into existing machines or automation, a compact version of the fiber laser is available as a practical system option. The compact Version is available as a single-mode laser with fibre optics of 20 µm, or as a multi-mode laser with fiber optics of 50 µm. Beam switches and energy sharing modules are also available as options, allowing up to four work cells to be operated with just one laser. Non-productive times are reduced and the utilisation of the laser is increased.
With an already comprehensive range of Fiber lasers, an increasing market share and the ongoing product development ethos within the company, Rofin’s Fibre lasers are set to become the mainstay of many precision material processing applications.