Power Is (Not) Everything

The variety of different laser sources, either a brand new product or a derivate of already existing concepts is growing almost every day. Even an experienced application guy like me struggles more and more to find the appropriate laser for a specific application in the first shot. It is out of question, that it is more difficult for our customers who have not been so close to the evolution process of lasers, penetrating more and more areas of industrial production. Thus, this article is intended to give a broad overview on the fundamentals of laser material processing in order to help finding suitable laser properties for your application quickly. The influence of the most important parameter in laser material interaction, the amount of laser power, necessary for specific industrial applications is outlined.