IPG Photonics has introduced four new fibre lasers designed to replace lamp-pumped long pulse YAG lasers. IPG's four new quasi-continuous wave (QCW) fibre lasers feature peak pulse powers of 750W, 1.5kW, 3kW and 5kW, and energies from 7.5J to 50J per pulse. IPG states that these air-cooled, compact units are more cost-effective than conventional YAG lasers because of wall plug efficiencies greater than 30 per cent, and because of maintenance-free operation - no components will require replacement during ordinary operation over the useful life of the laser. IPG has begun shipments of the 750W and 1.5kW peak power units, with first shipments of the 3kW and 5kW units scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.
The YLR-X/Y-QCW-AC lasers offer high pulse power and energy stability over the complete laser power dynamic range. IPG claims that its new QCW fibre lasers also offer exceptional beam quality, with various options for the output fibre size available and BPP as low as 0.35mm x mrad (single-mode version) up to 2mm x mrad. Convenient plug and play design and fibre delivery system continues to be standard as on all IPG fibre lasers.