Solid-state laser processing apparatus and laser welding process with a laser beam diameter controller having an aperture

摘要

A solid-state laser processing apparatus includes a solid-state laser oscillator (2), a laser beam diameter controller (5), an optical fiber (11), and a processing head (12). The solid-state laser oscillator (2) oscillates a laser beam. The laser beam diameter controller (5) controls a beam diameter of the laser beam, and includes an aperture (5). The aperture (5) controls a beam quality of the laser beam defined by M2 so as to fall in a range of 85 ≦ M2 ≦ 105. The optical fiber (11) guides the controlled laser beam therein. The processing head (12) includes a transfer optical system (13), and irradiates the guided laser beam to a surface of a workpiece (15) to be processed by way of the transfer optical system (13).