LDM Blue

LDMblue: blue diode laser

High power blue laser: Efficiency by blue laser light

The blue diode laser LDMblue revolutionizes the processing of copper, gold and other highly reflective metals in multiple ways. The direct generation of 1 kW cw laser power in the 450 nm wavelength range is unique and also avoids the detour via complex and inefficient wavelength conversions. At the same time the absorption and thus process efficiency is increased by a factor of up to 20 compared to lasers in the 1 micron range. The precisely controllable energy deposition of the diode laser enables the melting of copper without evaporation, leading to a previously unattained stability of the melt pool. This opens up new application opportunities, such as heat conduction welding of thin copper foils.

Industry proven system concept

LDMblue is based on the 19’’ rack design of the LDM product family well established in industrial applications for many years. The modular system design enables maintenance and service of the lasers in the field. Pre-defined spare part modules allow central system components to be easily replaced by trained personnel. Besides the service concept, all interfaces for control and system integration remain unchanged. The control options also include the fast modulation of the high power diode laser output power with rise time less than 150 microseconds (10%-90%).

Scalable laser power up to 1000w

The Laserline typical modular system concept facilitates the stagewise scaling of the maximum LDMblue laser power. At the same time the beam quality can be adapted to process requirements by means of different diode stack configurations. This unique technology provides the flexibility, modularity and scalability already known from other Laserline products.

New application opportunities

The combination of the 450 nm wavelength with 1000 Watt cw laser power opens up completely new opportunities for high-quality processing of copper and other highly reflective metals. Moreover can it be done almost independently of the surface condition e.g. oxidation in combination with the lack of spatters. This gives a new perspective for the creation of electrical interconnections which improves the welding process in electromobility applications, such as battery interconnection. Due to the world wide first system proving up to 1000 W of blue laser power, many more applications are expected in the near future e.g. copper cladding. More information under Nonferrous Metal Welding or Copper Welding.

Welding of thin sheets

Tasks that are very challenging utilizing conventional joining techniques such as welding of thin copper foils and copper sheets with perfect cosmetic appearance are now possible. Furthermore, combinations of dissimilar metals can be realized with copper as first joining partner, for example copper to aluminium or copper to steel, which breaks the convention that copper must be the bottom joining partner. The new possible heat conduction process comes along with a high gap bridgeability, which allows the usage of novel component designs such as edge welds or butt joints, in order to increase the material efficiency.

Technical Advantages at the Glance

  • Up to 1000 W cw laser power at 450 nm
  • Fast power control and power modulation
  • Optimized absorption in highly reflective metals
  • Industry proven system architecture
  • Highly stable process with quiet melt pool characteristics
  • Welding of stacked thin foils and copper sheets
  • Welding of dissimilar metals
  • 19’’ rack mount for easy integration of the blue diode laser into existing systems

Optical Specification

Max. output power (cw) 300 W 500 W 1.000 W
Beam quality 60 mm.mrad 60 mm.mrad 100 mm.mrad
Optical fiber 600 µm [NA 0.2] 600 µm [NA 0.2] 1000 µm [NA 0.2]
Min. focus at f = 100 mm 600 µm 600 µm 1.000 µm
Fiber-couplilng unit LLK-D/Auto
Fiber length 5 m, 10 m 5 m, 10 m 5 m
Power stabilitiy < +/- 2% over 2 hours
Wavelength range 400 nm to 500 nm

 

Mechanical Specification

VG5H Weight approx. 50 kg, size: 19" rack mount, 5 U (220 mm), depth 636 mm