Fujikura Europe, a manufacturer of fibre optic cables and equipment, has showcased what it describes as the first commercially available glass and processing system, the LZM-100 LazerMaster, at Laser World of Photonics in Munich.
Developed and manufactured by Fujikura’s global research and development team, the LZM-100 uses a CO2 laser heat source to perform splicing, adiabatic tapering, end-capping and other glass-shaping operations. It is also involved with fibre laser component development, such as for pump combiners and mode-field adaptors.
CO2 laser heating has been designed to enable cleaner splicing with no contamination, electrode or filament maintenance and instability is eliminated. A typical CO2 laser has an output power fluctuation of +/- 5 per cent which produces inconsistent splicing results and may cause irregularity and ripple in a taper profile.
The LZM-100 patent-pending laser power stability feature allows stable laser output, enabling highly repeatable processes and very smooth taper profiles. And with an integrated closed-loop feedback system and real-time measurement function, both splice loss and peak-to-peak taper ripple are greatly reduced.
'The LazerMaster is a customised CO2 laser splicing and glass processing system that will help decrease costs by improving performance and productivity,' said Roy Higgins, deputy managing director of Fujikura Europe.
'The specialised CO2 laser brings many advantages to the market such as clean and stabilised CO2 laser heat source and advanced feedback control techniques. With a significant trend in the industry towards the increased use of fibre lasers and high power delivery systems, the LZM-100 can be adopted into the technically advanced markets such as the fibre laser industry, bio-medical applications, military and defence and more.'