LASER FOCUSED

Fibre lasers have revolutionised manufacturing, enabling savings of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 every year. But this is just the beginning.

Ground-breaking work at the University’s Future Photonics Hub is at the forefront of fibre laser research and technology – a technology that has a limitless future as the digital manufacturing era begins.

Fibre lasers are having a profound impact on manufacturing processes such as cutting, welding and marking.

Professor Michalis Zervas, Director of the Advanced Laser Lab, explained: “Fibre lasers are unique in the sense that they create the light while it’s in the fibre and in that way we can achieve the highest efficiency, the highest stability, but also being robust and monolithic is maintenance-free, which is something very, very important in manufacturing.

“We believe that new attributes like polarisation, different wavelengths, beam shaping – the ability to shape the light in a particular form, which is suitable and appropriate for the applications – are unique features that fibre laser technology can offer.”

One such beam shaping technology that was developed at Southampton has resulted in 30 per cent faster processes, using half the power. “In terms of efficiency, fibre lasers are five to 50 times more efficient than competitor technologies, which means we can save up to 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per year,” said Michalis.

As a leader in fibre laser technology, Southampton has long-term relationships with industry – so the fibre lasers developed here are being used in the ‘real world’ to make a difference. For example, the development of unique in-fibre beam shaping technology has enabled high quality cutting of thin and thick mild-steel sheets with lower power at higher speeds.

There is no limit to the potential for fibre lasers.

Michalis concluded: “Fibre lasers have already revolutionised manufacturing and the market share of fibre lasers has increased by 20 to 25 per cent per year and is projected to reach 10 billion by the end of the decade.

“But this is just the beginning. We believe that there is no limit to the power, scalability and re-configurability that fibre lasers can offer. We have just scratched the surface.”

The Hub has produced a short video about fibre lasers and manufacturing.

Find out more The Hub has produced a short video about fibre lasers and manufacturing: https://youtu.be/3l4fb_HE-lk