Laser processing platforms Flashcards
What are optical fibres?
A long thin waveguide the laser can go along. They can bend to a limited degree.
What is a collimator?
A device that turns a diverging beam to a collimating one with limited divergence.
What is a beam shaper?
A lens that will change the profile of a laser from gaussian to something else.
What is a beam splitter?
A device that splits a beam. Useful for making a laser do several things at once.
What is a Electro-optic modulator?
a devicefor controlling the power, phase or polarization of a laser beam with an electrical control signal
Variable beam expanders
devices for adapting beam diameters to a particular material processing task
Galvanometer scan heads and mirrors
devices for spatial modulation of the laser beams
Why do we use things like scanheads?
To allow us to move the laser beam at m/s. Pure mechanical movement only moves at mm/s
In a laser cutting application, what laser movement might you use?
The beam only needs to move slowly, so you might just move the workpiece.
What is the focal length?
the distance from centre of lens to the focal point
What is the focal number?
What is the difference between f theta lenses and telecentric lenses?
What is the depth of focus?
