• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to footer

Technologies.org

Technology Trends: Follow the Money

  • Sponsored Post
    • Make a Contribution
    • Technology Job Posting
  • Technology Events 2022-2023
  • Technology Domains
  • Technology Markets
  • Venture Capital
  • Contact
    • About

Panasonic Develops High-Power Blue WBC Technology to Revolutionize DDL Applications on Microfabrication

January 29, 2020 By Technologies.org Leave a Comment

This technology enables high-power, short WL laser for microfabrication at a high beam quality

On January 29, 2020, Panasonic Corporation announced it has succeeded in demonstrating the world’s highest brightness blue laser. This has been achieved by using the wavelength beam combining (WBC) technology [1] on a direct diode laser (DDL) to produce a high quality output beam [2]. With this technology, power scaling is enabled while maintaining the beam quality by simply increasing the number of laser sources. This demonstration opens the door to laser intensities that could be two orders of magnitude higher than conventional blue laser systems. This technology will contribute to the emerging microfabrication processes, whose demand is expected to grow in industrial applications, such as in the automotive industry.

The automotive industry is moving towards “electrification” and “miniaturization” while requiring “high rigidity,” “design flexibility” and “productivity.” Against this background, the anticipation for the microfabrication lasers that can process various kinds of materials such as copper, gold and plastic is building up. Especially, blue laser with a high optical absorption efficiency has a high demand in the field of copper fabrication for the automotive motors and batteries. Highly-productive processing requires a laser beam source that has both high output power and high beam quality.

In order to attain such a beam source, Panasonic started collaboration with TeraDiode, Inc. (TDI), a Massachusetts, U.S.-based company, in 2013, and since has been developing WBC technology which can combine multiple and different wavelengths into one combined beam. In 2014, Panasonic released LAPRISS; the world’s first laser welding robot system equipped with an infrared DDL using WBC technology*1. In 2017, the company acquired TDI as a wholly owned subsidiary*2 and started developing on the output-power optimization on WBC as well as shortening the wavelength.

The output power optimization of the high-beam-quality blue laser (wavelength band = 400 – 450nm) was realized by combining more than 100 emitters from multiple diode bars [3] with WBC technology.

This WBC technology combines the beams from multiple emitters at different wavelengths that are incident on the diffraction grating at angles corresponding to each wavelength. The resonator is then formed in between the shared partially-transparent mirror and each edge face of the emitters. As a result, the output beam has achieved a output of 135 W with a high beam quality of BPP [4] 1.5mm・mrad.

Going forward, Panasonic will develop a processing system that is equipped with this laser beam source, as well as the process optimization in laser processing.

Panasonic will hold exhibits and lecture sessions on our technical achievement at PHOTONICS WEST 2020 in San Francisco from February 1 to 6, 2020.*3

A part of this research and development includes the data obtained from a project – “Development of advanced laser processing with intelligence based on high-brightness and high-efficiency laser technologies (TACMI project)” – commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan.

[Applications] Laser processing (welding, cutting, etc.)

[Patents] Total of 571 patents both domestic and international (including pending applications)

Notes:
*1: Panasonic Corporation Topics
April 15th, 2014: Panasonic has Released a Laser Welding Robot System “LAPRISS”-Equipped with the world’s first high-power direct diode laser
https://news.panasonic.com/jp/topics/2014/38440.html (In Japanese)
*2: Panasonic Corporation News Release
January 6th, 2017: Panasonic Acquires All Shares of U.S.-Based Industrial Laser Start-up TeraDiode, Inc.
https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2017/01/en170106-3/en170106-3.html
*3: PHOTONICS WEST 2020, San Francisco, 1-6 February 2020

Glossary
[1] Wavelength Beam Combining (WBC) technology: The technology that combines the beams with different wavelengths that are emitted from the multiple DDLs (direct diode lasers) on a diffraction grating.

[2] Beam quality: An index indicates how easy it is to combine the beam. Higher beam quality has smaller diameter and highly collimate feature.

[3] Diode bar: A laser bar that has multiple emittance stripes (emitters) in an array configuration on a single semiconductor chip.

[4] BPP (Beam Parameter Products): This is defined as the product of the radius r0 of the beam waist at the focusing position multiplied by the half-value half-width θ of the beam divergence angle; BPP = r0xθ. The unit is expressed in [mm・mrad]. The smaller BPP is, the higher the beam quality becomes.

Source: Panasonic

Related

Filed Under: Tech Tagged With: microfabrication, short WL laser

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Recent Posts

  • Samsung Electronics and Red Hat Announce Collaboration in the Field of Next-Generation Memory Software
  • AWS Announces General Availability of Amazon EC2 C7g Instances Powered by AWS-designed Graviton3 Processors
  • Infinitum Electric Raises $80M in Series D Funding Led by Riverstone Holdings to Scale Production of Sustainable Motors
  • Introducing IonQ Forte, Improving Quantum Performance with a Software-Configurable Dynamic Laser System
  • Cloudflare Unveils New SQL Database Offering
  • Cloudflare announces Workers for Platforms
  • Intel is rolling out new processors designed for data centers
  • EU moves to wean itself off Russian fossil fuels
  • A New Hydrogen-Powered Behemoth
  • BAE Systems to Bring Next-Generation Electric Drive System to Heavy-Duty Industrial Vehicle Market

Media Partners

  • VPNW
  • S3H
  • OPINT
  • Press Media Release
  • OSINT
  • Digital Market
  • Briefly

Media Partners

  • Technology Conferences
  • Event Sharing Network
  • Defense Conferences
  • Cybersecurity Events
  • Event Calendar
  • Calendarial
  • Opinion
  • Venture Capital

Copyright © 2015 Technologies.org

Technologies, Market Analysis & Market Research Reports

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Do not sell my personal information.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT