Partial Forming of Special Glasses Using Diode Laser Technology

摘要

The steady efforts to minimize technical components and assemblies require the application of new technologies and operating procedures in order to realise necessary process qualities. The laser is still at the beginning of being used as a tool for industrial processing of siliceous materials and has not reached its full potential yet. A laser wavelength of λ=10.6μm requires the application of a CO{sub}2-laser due to the high absorption capacity of most glasses (e.g. /1/ and /2/). The diode laser (relatively high efficiency and compact design), which is introduced in the following article, does not seem suitable for glass processing at first glance. However, a number of special glasses with a certain transmission characteristic (see fig. 1) can be processed very well with this type of laser at a wavelength of λ=808nm. An example for the above-mentioned special glasses is the Schott-Glass 8516. The transmission parameters for a tube diameter of d≥1 mm and a laser wavelength of λ=808nm are at about 10%. Thus, the glass can absorb the major part of the radiation.