The 150KW laser was launched, and 20 years of hard work created the core laser technology.

In recent years, the reason why 10,000-watt processing has become the focus of heated discussions in the industry is nothing more than a story of a jump in efficiency and a breakthrough in thickness limits! As a result, the 10,000-watt laser showed its initial signs and quickly gained market recognition. The leap-forward advancement in technology and the double dimensionality reduction impact on traditional processes in terms of processing efficiency and cost savings have made 10,000-watt lasers a cloud-piercing arrow that can replace traditional processes.

From meeting the needs of the cutting market in the medium and thin plate end in the early days, to the successive breakthroughs of 60,000 watts and 80,000 watts last year, achieving full coverage of the demand for thick plates, 10,000 watt lasers have shifted from primary processing to focusing on the cutting field, turning their hands into Explore the field of extra-thick plates and higher-end applications.

Thanks to the mature application of technology and phased innovation, the field of ultra-high-power fiber lasers once again ushered in a historic moment. At this Munich Shanghai Optical Expo, fiber laser leader Caplin Optoelectronics launched the world's first industrial-grade 150kW fiber laser. This milestone achievement marks that laser technology has entered a new stage in promoting industrial manufacturing upgrades. A new chapter has opened.

Epoch-making changes in the 150,000-watt fiber laser manufacturing industry

The reason why the implementation of 150,000 watts is a milestone is mainly reflected in the breakthrough of plate thickness requirements and efficiency requirements, which is somewhat like "turning things around". Before the emergence of 10,000-watt lasers, most fiber lasers on the market for cutting plates had a power of 6kW. At that time, there was a saying that 6kW was enough, but lasers below 10,000 watts could only cover the needs of medium and thin plates. In fact, their cutting capabilities and efficiency were not enough to meet the main needs of plate cutting.

Because of this problem, many domestic laser manufacturers have begun attempts to achieve a 10,000-watt breakthrough. Finally, in 2020, metal cutting set off a 10,000-watt craze, ushering in the era of ultra-high power fiber lasers. The breakthroughs in efficiency and cutting thickness brought by the higher power section have also allowed 10,000-watt lasers to find new breakthrough points, replacing traditional plasma and flame cutting processes as the main incremental direction.

However, the high cost also makes it difficult for the 10,000-watt laser that holds high the banner of replacement. Fortunately, major laser manufacturers including (BWT) Caplin have relied on years of technological accumulation and forward-looking layout of emerging technology applications, and the industry has ushered in 60,000 watts and 80,000 watts.

The advent of two extremely sharp "light knives" has also sounded the clarion call for laser cutting to completely replace plasma cutting. From the perspective of technology and total life cycle cost, it provides a more economical solution for batch processing in the field of medium and thick plates. However, in the face of the powerful impact brought by laser cutting, flame cutting has remained calm.

Based on the lower equipment cost, even if it is inferior to laser in terms of efficiency, precision, process, energy saving and environmental protection, flame cutting still has a long life cycle. In the field of extra-thick plates, the thickness that flame cutting can achieve was beyond the reach of laser cutting at that time.

"Good times don't last long", and the flame-cut leisurely stroll finally faces challenges. In early 2024, (BWT)Kepling, Jiatai and Baichu jointly launched the 100,000-watt Thunder fiber laser cutting machine. At this Munich Shanghai Light Expo, Kepling released the world's first 150,000-watt industrial-grade fiber laser. It can be said that from the power level of 100,000 watts, laser cutting has challenged flame cutting, and by the power level of 150,000 watts, it has covered more than 90% of the applications of flame cutting in the field of ultra-thick plates. Across all metal plates, the 150,000-watt sharp blade has once again ushered in an epoch-making change in the plate cutting industry.

From scientific research to industrial application

BWT's two core technologies help the launch of 150,000 watts

Since 1999, my country has concentrated on major universities and research institutions to establish projects in the field of high-power fiber lasers. Subsequently, many domestic manufacturers spent nearly 21 years and finally realized the industrialization of my country's 10,000-watt laser in 2020. At this point, the field of fiber lasers has begun to move towards the three major directions of "high power, high brightness, and lightweight". And this has also become an opportunity for the arrival of 150,000 watts.

In fact, many people believe that （BWT)Keplin's breakthrough in the field of ultra-high-power lasers is a sudden rise, but the author disagrees. BWT can quickly achieve leapfrog progress from 60,000 watts to 150,000 watts. This achievement should be a matter of course.

The rapid rotation of the two core flywheels promotes this inevitable result. As we all know, Keplin is a company with more than 20 years of experience in pump source manufacturing. Based on polarization beam combining technology and dense arrangement theory, it has significantly improved the power density and integration of fiber lasers. A major breakthrough was achieved in the field of pump sources, and a 660W pump source was successfully launched on the market, boosting the development of the domestic high-power laser industry. Obviously, Keplin's "high-power" core flywheel is spinning rapidly, but at the same time, another large core flywheel also ignites the engine.

From the Lightning series products previously launched by Caplin, we can see that lightweighting is its important technological development direction. In 2022, the birth of the Lightning series fiber lasers brought disruptive size reduction to the field of fiber lasers. The realization of this major breakthrough is inseparable from Caplin's efforts in technological innovation, which has introduced integrated technologies in the new energy industry. As a manufacturer that is proficient in both pump sources and complete laser machine technology, BWT took the lead in defining and applying laser CTC chip integration technology, laying a solid foundation for its outstanding performance in the field of handheld laser welding and winning more awards. High market share. At this Optical Expo, Caplin brought its fourth-generation Lightning series products, which fully demonstrated its further advancement in this technology route.

Even though it has achieved outstanding results on the welding track, Caplin is also aware that the cutting field is a major focus of its strategic development direction. With the blessing of the two core flywheels of leading pump source technology and lightning series miniaturization technology, Keplin will begin to develop ultra-high-power laser fields in 2023.

In September 2023, based on CTC chip integration technology, new-generation Thunder optical platform, power combining technology and ultra-high power output technology, Keplin broke through the power limit and achieved high beam quality output, and officially launched the Thunder series fiber lasers; In December 2023, more than ten Thunder series 60,000-watt fiber lasers were shipped in batches; in January 2024, the first batch of Thunder 80,000-watt fiber lasers settled in the Yangtze River Delta region; in February 2024, together with Jiatai Laser and Baichu Electronics Jointly released the world's first Thunder 100,000-watt ultra-high-power cutting equipment; on March 8, 2024, released Thunder's 120,000-watt industrial-grade fiber laser; on March 19, 2024, together with Jinweike Laser, released the world's first 135,000-watt industrial-grade fiber laser Watt laser cutting equipment; on March 20, 2024, Caplin launched the world's first 150,000-watt industrial-grade fiber laser at the Shanghai Light Expo in Munich.

To sum up, in just one year, BWT has become the new banner in the ultra-high power laser field! This is inseparable from the blessing of the two core flywheels, and also benefits from its forward-looking strategic layout. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as a matter of course.

What’s the difference between 150,000 watts? Where is the innovation?

Able to break through the industry's highest average power limit of 120,000 watts, the world's first 150,000 watt industrial-grade fiber laser launched by Caplin must have unique innovations. For this reason, the author also connected with Zhao Juyun, the rotating general manager of Caplin's fiber optic business unit, to answer his doubts.

Mr. Zhao said: Currently, 60,000-watt high-power fiber lasers have been rapidly developed and widely used in the field of industrial laser cutting internationally. The maximum power of fiber lasers can exceed 100,000 watts and even reach the level of 120,000 watts. However, the deterioration of beam quality severely restricts the industrial application of ultra-high power.

When the Thunder series is released in September 2023, its 6kW Thunder optical platform can only support power levels of 60,000 watts and 80,000 watts. Therefore, at a higher power level, its beam quality and spectrum are relatively poor. Considered excellent. For this reason, BWT upgraded it and built a 6kW optical platform with a high-brightness quasi-single-mode amplifier structure, which effectively suppressed the instability of transverse modes and broke through the poor beam quality and unstable output power of ultra-high-power fiber lasers after combining. Technical bottleneck. Developed a 150,000-watt ultra-high-power laser beam combining and output core optical device to achieve high-beam quality laser output, with M2 controlled within 24.

The previously mentioned pump source and CTC chip integration technology is also a major innovation. It has developed chip integration technology based on dense space arrangement theory, using low thermal resistance packaging and three-dimensional water channels to integrate the chip, heat sink structure, and pump module. Integrated design with the laser to improve heat conduction efficiency, and developed a lightweight, high-power, high-brightness pump source.

In addition, Keplin also innovatively proposed a femtosecond laser-written high-power fiber grating production process for suppressing the nonlinear effects of fiber lasers. It can control the spectral linewidth of the output laser and SRS spectral filtering, and has high carrying power and low temperature coefficient. and various nonlinear effects limiting functionality.

In the field of laser power testing, early manufacturers mostly used power meters based on thermal and photosensitive technologies for power measurement. However, BWT adopted a completely different technical path to test power. The technology was developed by experts from the China Institute of Metrology, and BWT applied it to lasers for the first time. It has developed the first 150,000-watt ultra-high-power fiber laser and test system at home and abroad. The data provided shows that the maximum output power is 150,340W, breaking through the industry's upper limit of 120,000-watt power synthesis technology.

In terms of indicators, the 150,000-watt industrial-grade fiber laser has a central wavelength of 1080±10nm, a spectral bandwidth of (3dB) <8nm, an output fiber core diameter of 200μm, and a beam quality M2 ≤ 24 (IPG 120,000-watt product M2 <50). Power instability is ±1.5%. According to the report of Zhongke Hechuang (Beijing) Science and Technology Achievements Evaluation Center, the overall technology of Keplin's 150,000-watt ultra-high-power fiber laser has reached the advanced level of similar products in the world.

Summary

In fact, another breakthrough in ultra-high power is in line with the current high-quality production needs in high-end manufacturing fields such as shipbuilding, new energy vehicles, aerospace, and nuclear power. 150,000 watts can double the processing efficiency and achieve high-quality processing for plates of all thicknesses. At the same time, it also proves that BWT is taking ultra-high-power lasers into deeper areas and further promoting the transformation and upgrading of my country's manufacturing industry.

But at this point, the power increase will come to an end. In the cutting field, the 150,000-watt fiber laser will continue to be the platform area for a period of time. On the one hand, it is necessary to enter the optimization and exploration stage of the process; on the other hand, it is necessary to meet the needs of supporting laser cutting heads, complete equipment, power supply equipment, etc., in order for the laser to obtain better terminal applications.