b'Pulsed fiber lasers offer numerous advantages.Fiber on Fiber cutting is ideal for creating these instruments.In terms of the laser technology, Coherent offers a comprehensive range of lasers with pulse widths He said a fiber laser typically produces a high-qualityfrom milliseconds to femtoseconds, output power edge that requires no post-processing, reducing over- from tens of watts to multikilowatts and wavelengths all costs. Also, unlike with a drill or an EDM tool, non- from deep ultraviolet to midinfrared. For medical de-contact laser processing involves no tool wear, so con- vices, many applications are well served by near infra-sistent, uniform results are delivered. red lasers in the tens-of-watts power range with adjust-able pulse widths, such as the fiber laser technology in Lasers in Use Coherents StarFiber 100-600 fiber laser machine.Schreiner gave an example of an application that il-lustrates the advantages of laser cutters. Bone drill bits,Common Compositessuch as craniotomes, now are made routinely by laserComposites are structures in which two or more ma-cutting. These stainless steel devices have small, sharpterials combine to produce a material whose properties edges. The use of pulsed fiber laser cutting avoidswould not be attainable by conventional means. An ex-heating the bulk of the material, virtually eliminatingample is carbon fiber-reinforced polymer, which is con-thermal transformation, which otherwise could renderstructed by two materialscarbon fiber and polymer these edges prone to break off. Also, the correct func- matrixthat have significantly different properties.tion of the drill depends on the precise geometry ofRonald Schaeffer, CEO of HH Photonics, New Ips-various featureslike the cutting edge, rake face andwich, New Hampshire, said numerous laser job shops flank faceso the superior spatial accuracy of laserare familiar with the challenges of machining FR-4, 40JULY 2020LaserMachining.indd 40 6/16/20 11:12 AM'