PowerPhotonic, an innovative world leader utilising freeform optics in the design & manufacture of wafer scale micro-optics, has launched a game-changing new class of optical Beam Shaper that improves high power laser cutting & welding at Photonics West 2022 - The Light Tunnel Generator

Why are they so different may you ask?

Light Tunnel Generators from PowerPhotonic are thin glass windows with unique (patent applied for) precision freeform surfaces that are designed to be mounted inside a cutting or welding head. They are a perfect solution to the problem of creating a ring-shaped intensity profile that persists over > 10 mm, far into metal that is being laser cut (or welded). The Light Tunnel Generator saves costs by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of high power laser cutting. It is designed to create a ring-shaped spot that is maintained over such a long distance that it creates a light tunnel (it has a much slower caustic in comparison to an axicon or similar solution).

We are eager to share insight into this product with our customers and have been doing so already at Photonics West 2022!

How do they work?

The input beam is assumed to be super Gaussian in profile and to be matched to the design input diameter. The Beam Shaper then redistributes energy within the beam, such that when the beam is focussed with a lens, it creates a ring. This ring extends many times longer than other ring generators.

Key Advantages

• Easy to use
• 3 times the depth of focus compared to the Rayleigh Range of axicon
• 95% shaping efficiency
• More than 20kW CW high power handling