News Update

Fast processing with laser machining system

D esigned for high speed contour cutting, drilling

and welding of smaller, cylind- rical and other three-dimen- sional parts up to 725 mm across, the Laserdyne 550 Beam Director multiaxis laser machining system is available from Lumonics.

It has been developed for fast information processing to ensure reliability and accuracy within tight tolerances, where processing speed, accuracy and repeatability are essential.

The enclosure design has been improved to incorporate two centre opening doors, giv- ing front and top access for easy and fast part and fixture loading.

In addition, the enclosure now also provides easier access to the laser head and motion system for cleaning and rou- tine maintenance.

The company’s Laserdyne 550 Beam Director system provides automatic focus con- trol (AFC) to maintain con- stant laser beam focus in either beam axis and any user se- lected direction, part surface coordinates (PSC) program- ming for faster development of three-dimensional axis part programs, and AutoNormal to orientate quickly and accu-

rately the laser beam perpen- dicular to the part surface, thus reducing programming time.

In addition, the system in- corporates Feature-Finding for locating critical part fea- tures and referencing key laser features together with in-tix- ture gauging to verify that the part is fixtured correctly before beginning processing.

The Laserdyne Beam Di- rector system offers accurate, high speed point-to-point and contouring motion and the _t 135” tilt motion up to 32 rpm as an alternative to tilt tables for faster throughput.

The direct drive Beam Di- rector also provides a more compact operation with an increased work envelope effi- ciency.

With its integrated laser and motion control, graphics display, automatic start-up and shut down, programmable operation and help tile and status reporting systems, the Laserdyne system provides ease of operation and produc- tion efficiency for users.

Lumonics Ltd, Gothenburg Way, Sutton Fields Industrial Estate, Hull HU7 OYE, UK. Fax: + 44 (0) 1482 839233

The Laserdyne 550 Beam Dimctor from Lumonics has been designed for high speed contour cuffing, drtlllng and welding

Laser factory to be Fast optical switch built developed

VV ith profits and turnover claimed to be up by

18% on 1995, and an increas- mg worldwide demand for its laser manufacturing systems, Trumpf is set to strengthen its production capabilities with the building of a new laser Factory.

T hrough sputtering thin coats of gold and alumi-

na, Matsushita Electric Indus- trial Company’s Central Research Laboratory has suc- ceeded in creating a high-per- formance, non-linear optical material, according to a recent report in me Nikkei Weekly.

The 4.4 ha allocated for the iirst phase of this development .s in Ditzingen, Stuttgart, Ger- many, adjacent to the compa- ny’s headquarters.

The factory should allow the company to expand its production of laser beam gen- :rators and components - its production rate of COz and YAG lasers is currently more than 1000 units per annum.

The response time of the material - the speed at which the material changes the index of refraction of an incoming light signal - is said to be 0.98x10 * s.

The material’s most likely application is as a switch.

The development will also allow the logistics centre, which is currently based exter- nally, to be incorporated with- in the main manufacturing site.

In addition, the material is also said to exhibit a high linear optical susceptibility of 0.1 esu. That is, it is claimed to be about 30 times easier to control light with it than with conventional materials.

A second building phase is also envisaged for the expan- sion of production facilities for Trumpfs punching and nib- bling machines.

Researchers made the ma- terial by depositing 15 alter- nating layers of gold and alumina on a glass surface.

Trumpf Ltd, President Way, Airport Executive Park, Luton, Bedfordshire LU2 9NL, UK. Fax: •t 44 (0) 1582 399260

The conventional produc- tion technique for non-linear optical materials, the rapid quenching of melts, can create regions of high and low re- sponse rates, but when efforts are made to eliminate the low response-rate regions, the sus- ceptibility of the material is said to drop.

Connections with reflections cause errors

A study by the Optoelec- tronics Division of the

US National Institute of Stan- dards and Technology (NIST) has found that users of optical power meters can expect as much as a 10% error if the meter is used with a connector different from that used to calibrate the meter.

The error sources, NIST found, are reflection properties of the detectors, windows and connectors involved.

When the power incident on an optical Iibre power meter is measured, radiation is trans- mitted through a fibre at-

tached to the detector by a fibre connector and adapter. The closeness of the fibre con- nector to the detector - and its associated window - pro- vides an opportunity for reflec- tions that introduce errors in the power readings.

To perform the study, NIST selected six common connector types from four randomly cho- sen vendors, and calibrations were performed on four types of power meters at three tele- communications wavelengths.

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Col- orado 80303-3328, USA

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Optics & Laser fichnology Vol29 No I 1997