Laser Cutting in a Nutshell
Fiber laser cutting has become the industry standard for fast and accurate sheet metal processing.
What is a Fiber Laser?
A fiber laser is a type of solid-state laser. It uses the doped core of an optical fiber as its active medium, known as the active fiber core. In addition to the active fiber, a passive transport fiber carries the laser beam from the active core to the cutting head.
Fiber lasers are optically pumped by coupling pump light into the fiber. Diode lasers are used to provide the excitation or "pumping". In the fiber laser, the pump radiation from the diodes enters the fiber through its end face (Bragg grating) and is then guided in the fiber along the active (doped) fiber core. The laser light conducted through the active fiber core is amplified according to the length of the active fiber.
In semiconductor technology, the term "doping" (from the Latin "dotare" = to endow) refers to the introduction of foreign atoms into a layer of material. The number of dopant atoms is very small compared to the amount of substrate material. The most common dopant element used in the active fiber core is erbium (used in medical, telecommunications), followed by ytterbium and neodymium for high-power laser applications.
Fiber Laser Technology
In fiber laser technology, a diode laser is used as the main excitation source. It produces a light pulse in the fiber. This released energy now moves through the fiber and crosses the active fiber core at indeterminate points. In crossing the active fiber core, the light photons collide with the doped ytterbium atoms in the active fiber core.
The ytterbium atoms absorb the kinetic energy of the photons in the collision. The electrons in the outer shell of the ytterbium atoms are taken into a higher energy state (excited-> valence electron is moved into an orbit further away from the nucleus).
The excited ytterbium atom is now in a metastable state in which it seeks to return to its "ground energy state". If the ytterbium atom returns to its ground state with no outside influence, this is called spontaneous emission. In returning to the ground state, the excess energy is emitted in the form of a "photon" (quantum of light).
Metastable
This is the term given to the state (temporary metastable state) of an excited atom when the atom does not return to its ground state immediately (which is the normal behavior) but only after a certain amount of time (up to a few seconds) with the emission of a particle (e.g. a quantum of light).
A photon collides with an excited ytterbium electron. The collision with the incident photon stimulates (= forces) the ytterbium electron to fall back into its ground state: the electron also emits a photon that has the same frequency and the same direction of propagation as the incident photon-> identical photon.
This process is called stimulated emission or induced emission. Stimulated emission or induced emission means that the emission of a photon is initiated by another photon rather than occurring spontaneously. This is one of the requirements for a laser to work.
Of course, Stimulated Emission also appears in the word laser: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation = LASER
Highly Productive
Extremely high laser powers can be achieved using Fiber technology. This means your parts can be produced very quickly.
Stable
Fiber laser cutting technology provides a highly stable laser beam without the need for support gases, complex vacuum systems, moving parts and sophisticated mirror systems.
Precise
This is an incredibly precise process which delivers exacting sizing and positioning of holes and features in your cut parts.
Efficient
The precision of fiber laser cutting can reduce or eliminate secondary operations such as drilling or machining, helping to save both time and manufacturing costs.
What Can Be Produced
If you can draw it, we can likely make it.
From one-off parts to high-volume production, we provide laser cutting and CNC bending across a wide range of metals and thicknesses.
We stock mild and stainless steel, and offer next-day availability on aluminium, copper, brass and specialist alloys.
Laser cutting helps reduce waste, improve sheet yield, and achieve a high-quality finish, so you only pay for the parts you actually need.
What We Offer
Laser Cutting
Fast, precise laser cutting for a wide range of metals. Using advanced technology, we deliver clean, accurate parts with excellent repeatability, whether you need one-offs or large production runs.
Accreditations
Quality, compliance, and security are central to how we operate. By merging ISO 9001-2015 and BSEN 1090 Class 2, we’ve created a comprehensive Integrated Management System, always available for customers to review.
We also take cybersecurity seriously. Our Cyber Essentials accreditation helps to keep customer data and communications secure.
Our consistent growth was recently recognised in the Yorkshire’s Fastest Fifty Awards, placing us among the region's fastest-growing businesses. We’re proud to be part of such a diverse and successful group.
Looking to get started?
Send us your details in whatever way works best for you. We just need the metal type, thickness, quantity, and your ideal timeframe.
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