Abstract

Many factors affect the end result of laser drilling and cutting. Besides material properties such as type and surface finish, process factors such as the use of assist gas, fluctuation in laser power and pumping lamp aging, all result in a change of output beam properties. When optical fiber beam delivery is employed, additional factors such as beam launching conditions and the effect of manipulation of the fiber (causing bend loss and mode coupling) must also be considered.

© 1993 Optical Society of America