Abstract

The application of lasers spans the entire commercial and industrial scene starting from, the CD player at home to welding in automobile and aircraft plants. The CD player uses tiny diode lasers, whereas 5 kW to 25 kW CO₂ laser used in industrial welding application have footprints of tens of squaremeters. The applications in manufacturing include: nanometer size powder generation by laser ablation; Angstrom to micron size deposition by laser chemical vapor deposition (LCVD); mm scale coating by laser cladding; and surface modification and meter scale components by laser welding (Fig. 1).

© 1996 Optical Society of America