SPI Lasers (Southampton, UK) announced today that it has commenced manufacturing a new generation of high brightness kilowatt class CW Industrial fiber lasers, with initial launch products ranging in power levels from 500W to 6kW.

This new generation of lasers encompasses a collection of features and functions that have been driven by working closely with customers and suppliers, which are new, unique and eco nomically im portant. These features, along with the laser performance can be thought of together as “enabling optimisation of laser material processing”. One example of a new feature is termed “Pierce Detection”, which is of immense im portance when maximising the efficiency of sheet me tal cutting.

The laser collects and analyses light reflected back from the cutting process and provides a PLC compatible co ntrol signal that changes state within milli-seco nds of the sheet being pierced, thus allowing the cutting machine to begin it’s task in a much shorter time window. Compared to a traditio nal pre-programmed dwell time for the pierce process, the production run-time saved using this pierce detection technique is co nsiderable and easily accumulates to many minutes per sheet processed.

This new generation of kilowatt CW Industrial fiber lasers from SPI Lasers sits under the ‘QUBE’ product name, which is in turn part of the existing redPOWER brand. QUBE products are available at the following powers: 500W, 1kW, 1.5kW, 3kW, 4.5kW and 6kW. The QUBE lasers require o nly electrical power and water connection, allowing quick co nfiguration and interfacing to any one of a wide range of laser material processes. The lower power QUBE products (500W to 1.5kW) are available with multi-mode or single mode output fiber and are particularly well suited to optimising me tal additive manufacturing processes and other high precision applications.

High volume co nsumers of kilowatt class CW Industrial fiber lasers – typically machine builders, OEM integrators, robotic systems builders – can procure the performance and co ntrol advantages of the new generation QUBE lasers directly. However, SPI Lasers also provides this market segment with a building block style OEM solution, termed PRISM products, under the redPOWER brand. This allows integrators the flexibility to procure and customise their needs, using o nly the fiber laser elements they need to create their dedicated laser machine tool.

Dr. Thomas Fehn, CEO, SPI Lasers stated:

“As ever we remain committed to offering our customers the very best quality products, backed by market leading levels of service and support; as such I am thrilled to co nfirm the launch of our expanded CW redPOWER product range.

Our customers have repeatedly told us that they love the quality and versatility of our products but have been keen for us to offer lasers with even greater capability by supplying higher powers. Today we have answered that call and as ever, we will co ntinue to work with our customers to ensure we offer lasers that are manufactured with them in mind.

I want to take this opportunity to re-assure our customers that there will be no immediate disco ntinuation of our current suite of products, we will be instigating a managed transition of the old and new product lines and will communicate the details of this to all our customers in due course.”