A brilliant success

02:09
A brilliant s uccess
w w w.trumpf.com
50 years of the laser — a technology that has helped change the world
www.50YearsLaser.com
PUBLISHER TRUMPF GmbH + Co. KG, Johann-Maus-Straße 2, 71254 Ditzingen, Germany, www.trumpf.com
Responsible for content Jens Bleher Editor-in-Chief Holger Kapp, Telephone +49 (0) 7156 303 – 31559,
[email protected] Distribution Telephone +49 (0) 7156 303 – 30121, Fax +49 (0) 7156 303 – 30670, [email protected]
Consulting Helmut Ortner, Dr. Eckhard Meiners Edited by pr+co. gmbh, Stuttgart, Norbert Hiller, Martin Reinhardt
Contributors Steffen Beck, David Belforte, Prof. Mario Bertolotti, Catherine Flynn, Tom Hausken, Prof. Ernst Peter Fischer, Daorug Disyanan,
Bernd Müller, Martin Reinhardt, Monika Unkelbach
Photography KD Busch, Ingrid Fieback Kremer, Anne Brande, Udo Loster,
Don Roper, Apiwat Saeheng Design and Production pr+co. gmbh, Stuttgart/Germany, Gernot Walter, Markus Weißenhorn,
Martin Reinhardt ReproductioN Reprotechnik Herzog GmbH, Stuttgart/Germany Printed by frechdruck GmbH, Stuttgart/Germany
02:2009
Title: Ewa Walicka / Fotolia; Ugorenkov / Fotolia; EDAG GmbH; Gernot Walter; Klaus Eppele / Fotolia; Lasertechnik Rädisch GmbH; Gernot Walter; Lothar Drechsel / Fotolia; Airbus S.A.S. 2005;
Schreinerei Protze; Tomasz Pawlowski / Fotolia; Galaiko Sergey / Fotolia; Logitec; Bombadier Inc.; Solland Solar; Rolls-Royce plc, copyright © Rolls-Royce plc 2009; Roman Ivaschenko / Fotolia;
Intel; Mitsubishi Electrics; NASA; Hewlett Packard; Charité, Chirurgische Klinik I; Wikipedia Commons; Gernot Walter; Cpro / Fotolia; LaserGlow Technologies; Herzapfelhof; Gernot Walter;
Bundesministerium des Innern; Christophe Papke / Fotolia; Kremo Laser-Papierfeinstanzungen; TheThirdMan / Fotolia; Eberspächer; Gernot Walter; Gernot Walter; Carl Zeiss;
BIOTRONIK GmbH & Co. KG; VICTORINOX PHOTOPRESS; Sebastian Kaulitzki / Fotolia; Synbone / KD Busch; Märklin; Chickenstock / Fotolia; BOSCH; Fotokalle / Fotolia; Christian Jung / Fotolia;
Carl Subick / Fotolia; Kettler / KD Busch; Gernot Walter (Stoppschild); Hewlett Packard; Staatsarchiv Uri, Altdorf (A-Urk 4)
Pages 14/15: Lasertechnik Rädisch; Prof. Theodor W. Hänsch; Europäische Kommission; BIOTRONIK GmbH & Co. KG; Bremer Instituts für angewandte Strahltechnik (BIAS) GmbH
Nanoscribe GmbH; Laser 2000 GmbH; Universität Ulm; Herzapfelhof; Fraunhofer Institut für Solare Energiesysteme ISE
Editorial
“W
here’s the laser?” is the question you’ll see on the next to last page in every issue of
Laser Community. If we were to mention only materials processing applications using
TRUMPF technology, then we could easily fill that page every month from now until the one
hundredth anniversary of laser technology. In 1960, the year laser light was first generated, it
was an invention in search of an application. Today the laser is the foundation for the modern
communications society. Installed in machine tools, it has taken manufacturing by storm. In
the realm of science it delivers important findings in research efforts. Brought to a remarkable
state of sophistication through decades of intensive research and development, today everyone
uses the incredible capabilities of laser light. Often we do this as a simple matter of course,
without noticing or knowing that a laser is at our beck and call.
The advances in laser technology are thoroughly comparable with progress in microelectronics,
given the very fundamental changes they have made possible. But while the electronic revolution
played itself out right before our eyes, in the form of products we use in everyday life, the laser
A good reason to celebrate!
revolution is virtually invisible. The fact that the ongoing miniaturization of computers, cell
phones and other terminal units could and can be achieved only through laser technology is
something actually known only by the people who work with lasers. No one thinks about the cost,
weight, efficiency and safety benefits that would have been impossible without the laser. Hardly
anyone is aware of how important laser technology has become in modern medicine. And what
parents have the faintest idea that the fine holes in the nipple for the baby bottle were pierced
with a laser? To celebrate this anniversary we have compiled fifty such examples on the cover page
and in the Internet. In spite of that impressive number, we have put together just a tiny selection.
Light, as a tool, has become a key technology and the applications are diverse as would be expected.
The laser industry, measured by the sum of the firms that manufacture and supply laser equipment, is small. The laser industry, seen as the sum of all the companies that work with lasers, is
gigantic. Considering what is going on in the world’s applications laboratories gives us the feeling
that we are still at the beginnings of the revolution described here, one triggered by the laser. That
is why we are commemorating the first half century of laser technology. The laser has certainly
earned that recognition.
p e t e r l e i bi n g e r
Vice-Chairman of the Managing Board
Head of the Laser Technology / Electronics Division
peter.leibinger @de.trumpf.com
3
02 : 2009
1960 — 2010
6
50 years of the laser
7
10
8
9
Lasers and people
at a glance
Page 06
Automobile manufacturing going
green Page 06 // Green ideas at ICALEO //
Repair procedures for turbines Page 07 //
Wanted: Innovators // ANGEL 2010 nano particle conference // Minitec has something
new under the sun Page 08 // TU Vienna
bends with the help of the laser
16
Celebrating 50 years of the laser
The new light
It’s a long way to the top: in 1958 two explorers startet the race towards the first laser.
In the 1980s this new instrument captures the market. Page 10
Milestones
“1960 – 2010: What was really important ?” Answers by technology journalist David Belforte
and physicists Prof. Mario Bertolotti. Page 14
“I said: If you really believe this, act on it”
After founding his first laser company, Eugene Watson burned spots on his neighbor’s
garage: Memories of the dawn of a technology. Page 16
08 network node
30 market views
4
Trumpf and the Laser
On a personal note: A good relationship narrated in 14 dates. Page 20
26 jinpao
21 statement
“Where only the
new is considered,
the old grows”
To forget the past because of what is new,
makes you miss the future, Prof. Ernst Peter
Fischer points out. The laser confirms. Page 21
22
28 endress + hauser
Dream factory
Identical print,
worldwide
meyer werft
Even cruise ships start out small: With
750 square meter sheets and the largest
laser machine in the world Page 22
“The mixture is the
deciding factor”
A network of marking lasers with
automated remote calibration only
at Endress + Hauser. Page 28
EDAG GmbH / www.edag.de
Victor Chung explains how he makes the
job shop JINPAO competitive worldwide
Page 26
50 years, 50 times in laser technology: For information on where and how the laser is hidden in the 50 objects on our title page, please visit www.50yearslaser.com
5
--- SECURE ENGRAVING
The Republic of Guatemala will use biometry and laser engraving to forgery-proof
identity cards. www.datacard.com
--- PER FIBER LASER
Under the supervision of the FraunhoferInstitute IWS Dresden, the EU research
project “LIFT — Leadership in Fiber Laser
Technologies” is pursuing Europe’s leadership in using innovative fiber laser sources.
www.iws.fraunhofer.de
--- GERMAN-RUSSIAN COLLABORATION
Spreading laser expertise is the goal of the five
Laser Innovation Technological Centers
(LITC) in Russia. Currently, the LITC Moscow
is constructing a water treatment plant.
www.lzh.de
--- UP-AND-COMING RESEARCHERS
The Irish government is investing almost 8
million Euros in sponsoring 15 young researchers in Cork, Dublin and Galway.
Their research will focus on nanotechnology
as well as optical technologies and the
laser. www.sfi.ie
“Our goal is to cut
the energy required
to produce an automobile in half.”
Prof. Reimund Neugebauer,
spokesperson of the Innovation
Alliance “Green Carbody
Tech­n ologies”
The green way
A shortage in raw materials calls for efficient production processes
About 20 percent of the energy that a car consumes over its service life is incurred when it is
manufactured. The innovation alliance “Green Carbody Technologies,” a coalition of more than 60
German companies, wants to cut that percentage in half. Global competition, climate protection
and a resource shortage make it necessary for industry to collaborate to come up with new technologies, process flows and tools for car body production and to quickly implement them into industrial practice. The entire process chain with its new planning tools, which should be efficiently co­
ordinated with one another, is being put to the test. The project is scheduled to run for three years.
The research budget of the companies involved amounts to 100 million Euros. Of that, 30 million
Euros will be invested in joint coalition projects. The German Ministry for Education and Research
BMBF is supporting the initiative with an additional 15 million Euros. www.iwu.fraunhofer.de
--- TRANSATLANTIC COOPERATION
The University of Central Florida, together
with the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser­
technology (ILT), will soon be researching
high-powered lasers and laser material
processing. www.creol.ucf.edu
Green light
ICALEO discusses the green future
--- BRUSSELS SUMMIT
The EU Commissioner for Information Tech­
nology and Media Viviane Reading will
discuss the Photonics21 Strategic Research
Agenda in January 2010 with well-known
experts. www.photonics21.org
--- PARTNER STATUS
The US company Fedtech Inc. is the first job
shop to receive the coveted quality award
“Partner Status” from John Deere & Company — as a supplier for laser-cut precision
parts, among other components.
www.fedtech.com
6
ICALEO examines the possibilities:
inexpensive and efficient solar cells.
The ICALEO conference held in November
2009 linked the laser with the global issue of energy and energy efficiency — the limits and challenges of a green economy and the role that the
laser will play in it. Peter Baker, president of the
Laser Institute of America LIA, declared: “Lasers
will become a decisive tool. They will enable us to
meet customers’ demands for efficient and sustainable energy and still produce high-quality
products.” Topics included solar cell production,
fuel cells and hydrogen economy, new materials
such as laser-generated carbon nano tubes and
diamond layers, among others.
www.laserinstitute.org / ICALEO
Dr.-Ing. Andres Gasser of
the Fraunhofer Institute for
Laser Technology in Aachen,
Germany, repairs engines.
BU
Fraunhofer Institut für Lasertechnik ILT; Fraunhofer-Instituts für Solare Energiesysteme ISE; Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkzeugmaschinen und Umformtechnik IWU;Daimler AG; Laserzentrum Hannover LHZ
Repair of front rotors. As project partner, TRUMPF
supplied the plant technology for the first installation.
“New perspective for
engine technology”
2008 AKL award
winner: The
Robscan concept
from Daimler AG.
Call for ideas
The European Laser Institute ELI and the AKL
Laser Technology task force are calling for entries
for the 2010 Innovation Award for Laser Techno­lo­gy.
The award recognizes research projects whose implementation has resulted in a verifiable economic
benefit. It is geared toward all researchers or project groups who are associated with the application
and generation of laser light on material processing.
Submissions will be accepted until January 15, 2010.
www.innovation-award-laser.org
Rolls-Royce and ILT/LLT are developing a new laser procedure for
engine repairs. Dr. Andres Gasser discusses the hows and the whys
What makes the new laser deposition welding procedure so revolutionary ?
At the core are special powder nozzles that make a laminated powder gas supply possible.
Thereby, a similar metallic powder, which is generated in a local molten bath by the laser,
is applied to the component’s surface where it is smelted. The material is then deposited
using the nozzles. The new powder and protective gas supply nozzle ensures a high level
of efficiency for the powder and protects the molten bath from reactions with the atmosphere. A closed processing gas chamber is not necessary.
What are the benefits of this procedure ?
With the help of a new procedure, oxidation-sensitive titanium and nickel materials and
warp-sensitive components can be deposition welded precisely with minimal warping
and with reproducible results. That has not been possible until now. Therefore, the essential and warp-prone components from airplane engines like front rotors and high pressure compressor casings could not be repaired; they had to be completely replaced. This
was very expensive. Additionally, airplane engines consist of special titanium and nickelbased alloys, which led to procurement problems due to low availability of the materials.
Can the procedure be transferred to other applications ?
We are currently working to expand the procedure to include other turbo machine components and also to make it applicable for stationary turbines. This opens up new perspectives for general engine technology and also for the entire machine manufacturing
industry over the long term.
Contact: Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik ILT, Dr.-Ing. Andres Gassner,
Telephone +49 (0)241 8906-209, [email protected]
Colorful diversity: Substrate bottles
with laser-generated nano particles
Nano meeting
Together with the European Optical Society, the
Hanover Laser Center, the University of Tokyo and
the Leibniz University Hanover are organizing the
international conference ANGEL 2010 in Engelberg,
Switzerland, to be held from June 29 to July 1, 2010.
ANGEL stands for “Laser Ablation and Nanoparticle Generation in Liquids.” The topic of the conference will be highly pure nano particles made of
any preferred solids in liquid. Submissions for presentations will be accepted until February 26, 2010.
In addition, the event organizers are calling for submissions for an award for up-and-coming researchers.
www.myeos.org /ANGEL2010
7
No technical development
has changed life in such diverse
fields as the laser. The American
Physical Society (APS) and the Optical Society
of America (OSA) are celebrating the anni­
versary of the birth of the laser during Laser­Fest.
The year-long celebration will include events,
symposia, presentations and lectures that will
offer an exciting look at the laser’s fascinating past and its promising future. LaserFest
will honor laser pioneers worldwide for their
research and development work in this revolutionary technology. At the same time, students,
teachers, governments and the public should
gain an awareness of the significance and
future potential of the laser. “The purpose of
this celebration is to show how important research is and what un­fore­seeable and revolutionary advances it can achieve,” explains APS
President Arthur Bienenstock. From the discovery of stimulated emission by Albert Einstein in
1917, the the­o­retical foundation of the laser,
to the construction of the first solid-state laser
using a ruby crystal by Theodore H. Maiman to
modern high performance lasers — LaserFest
will be a celebration of the entire spectrum of
laser technology. www.laserfest.org
New under the sun
Laser welding for more profitable solar thermal plants
The laser is becoming a standard part of the toolbox in solar
thermal plant construction. Back in 2003, the Swiss company SunLaser introduced a process for welding absorber sheets and the
collector piping using a pulsed laser instead of ultrasound. The
results are invisible, extremely durable seams, higher working
speeds and, most notably, the option of replacing copper
with lighter and more affordable aluminum. Other suppliers
supported the trend toward aluminum with new alloys
and reaction-preventing additives for liquids in the heat
cycle. The German Machine manufacturer MiniTec
has begun to collaborate with SunLaser. Currently
the company is engaged in setting up a large thermal plant thermal plants showroom and demonstration center for laser welding in combination
with fully automated production lines at the
company’s German site. www.minitec.ch
A case for automated laser welding: Absorber
sheet (A) and tube harp (B)
or line in sun collectors.
Smoothly bent
Energy-efficient bending process for brittle materials
Flash of genius
In one small article,
Albert Einstein mathematically proved that
matter can be stimulated
to emit radiation.
1917
8
A new die-bending process uses laser energy to
make brittle materials smoother. The diode laser is
located on the bottom half of the tool. After a bit of
cold bending, it heats up the workpiece locally along
a very narrow groove, which increases the breaking
strain along the groove and allows more forming of
the material. The temperature sensor is located on the
top half of the tool. Software controls the heating process through the sensor’s readings of the workpiece
temperature. Adjustments are made precisely throughout the forming process. This means that the process
uses only as much heat as it needs. The “laser-supported die-bending” process was jointly developed by the
Technical University of Vienna and TRUMPF Austria.
The study presented uses 200-watt diode laser bars on
micro channel condensers. As many bars as desired
can be strung together in a row using plug-in connections. The project planners are currently working on
developing the process for marketability. www.ift.at
The diode laser is located in the
bottom half of the tool; a temperature
sensor that monitors the process is
in the top half.
Deutsche Presseagentur dpa; Illustration Gernot Walter; Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Hochleistungslasertechnik / TU Wien
net work node
1960 — 2010
50 years of the laser
10
1960 – Ali Javan (center), together with Donald Herriott and
William R. Bennett Jr. (from left), lights his helium-neon
laser, invented shortly after Theodore Maiman’s ruby laser.
1960 – Arthur L. Schawlow in his lab. Charles Townes and
Schawlow sketched out the idea for the laser in 1958.
1973 – Precision work: An early application was the wel- ding of watch springs. Here, at the company Carl Haas in Schramberg, Germany, employees are working at the company’s internally developed laser workstations.
1981 – Job shop Autz + Herrmann installs the third punchinglaser combination machine from TRUMPF. The laser enters the field of flexible sheet metal processing.
1985 – ZF orders the first laser welding machine for transmission gearing from Held Systems: With growing laser
achievements, the interest in deep welding also grows.
Emilio Segrè Visual Archives / AIP Photos; MIT Press / Bell Laboratories; TRUMPF (Haas-Laser); Autz + Herrmann GmbH; Held Systems Deutschland GmbH
1955 – When it all started: Charles H. Townes (left) and James P. Gordon present their maser, the technology that the laser emerged from.
50 years of the laser
The new light
In May 1960, Theodore Maiman ignited the first laser flash.
In December, laser pioneer Charles Townes received the Nobel Prize.
Only thing is, the new era that was promised was a long time in coming.
In 1960 laser technology seemed certain to
change the world. People said it would soon be
able to heal eyesight, transmit signals and bore,
cut or weld workpieces. It would guide, locate or
destroy rockets, measure pollution in the atmosphere or even spark off nuclear fusion. At the
time, Readers Digest wrote of the “light of hope;”
the New York Times saw the laser light up the
future; and Time Magazine called it the “hottest
thing in solid state physics since the transistor.”
Shortly before, the transistor had triggered the
electronic revolution: The foundation of a new
billion dollar industry, dominated by the USA.
Theodore Maiman: Quelle unbekannt
All significant research institutes in the USA
Theodore Maiman built the first laser in 1960: The resonator was a ruby crystal;
the pump source was a flash lamp.
lars, according to Barron’s Magazine. Almost 500 laser. Disappointed, back in 1964 laser fans said
companies were researching the laser or using it famously: “The laser is a solution in search of a
for research purposes. A scant 20 to 30 compa- problem.” They meant that while the transistor
nies introduced lasers on a market that the busi- had easily replaced vacuum tubes, the laser was
ness press predicted would grow by tremendous still very much an unresearched tool. And even
rates. By 1973, the prediction ran, it would be a the laser itself represented yet another problem.
1 billion US dollar market.
The laser materials were not pure enough, the
The prediction fell at least one decade too construction fragile and the performance often
short. By 1964 laser researchers and engineers insufficient. What was missing were applications
had, indeed, done a lot of testing and experi- that could set in motion the industrial spiral of
ments, prompting the editor-in-chief of Electron- increasing quantities, standardized products and
ics Magazine, John Carroll, to publish “The Story falling prices.
of the Laser.” The book had, among others, phoBy the end of the 1970s, the helium neon latos of a 500-watt laser that was boring through ser was kept busy in applications such as lowera steel beam and showed experiments with data performance lasers, scanning cash registers, lastorage and the transmission of TV signals.
ser printers and measurement technology. CD
turned to the laser, and public research programs
reflected this change. During the Cold War, the
US government placed great emphasis on military strength through technological advancement, greatly increasing defense spending in the
1950s. According to Aviation Week and Space
Technology, the US Department of Defense invested about 1.5 million US dollars in the laser.
To the new laser industry, the military research
programs meant what shareholders and risk venture capitalists meant to the Internet industry 40 Yet the experiments left behind the reality of the
years later: easier access to financial resources. At situation: Each test to transfer an existing applithe end of 1962, two and a half years after Theo- cation to the laser showed that the “conventional”
dore Maiman’s successful laser experiment, the application remained superior unless engineers
laser industry generated about 1 million US dol- completely redeveloped the application for the
The transistor had turned electronics into a
billion dollar industry in just a few years. The public
expected the laser to go the same route
players and the expansion of data transmission
networks simultaneously promoted the rapid rise
of the semiconductor laser as a tiny, inexpensive
laser diode. Today, digital information technologies and consumer electronics industries are de11
50 years of the laser
pendent on the laser. For the high-performance
laser, a decisive development took place in Great
Britain in 1967. Messer Griesheim, a German machine manufacturer; Coherent, a beam source
manufacturer from the USA; and the Welding
Institute, a UK based research institute, collaborated to develop a laser for a new industrial process: cutting metal sheets.
This model of the development alliance is
typical in the laser industry today. Dr. Hans-Josef Haepp, former manager of Production and
Materials Technology at Daimler AG in Sindelfingen, Germany, sees in it the essential model
for the successful breakthrough of the laser in
industrial production
that took place in Germany at the beginning
of the 1980s. As an example, he describes the
development of welding
applications in car body
construction at Daimler. “The Institute for Laser Tools presented extensive findings on the
interchange of photons with metallic materials
as well as on process monitoring. TRUMPF implemented this process in systems suitable for
industrial applications that Daimler AG tested
early on for usability. The findings gained from
With his company Held Systems, Jürgen Held set himself up in 1970 as an integrator and began to build laser machines. this testing were available to all partners and
were used specifically to further develop the
technology.”
The development partners from 1967 found
the laser promised considerably better cutting
quality compared to other processes. In addition, laser cutting had the potential to tap into
a growing market as a standard industrial application. Since the early 60’s, machines like
the copy nibble machine from TRUMPF have
revolutionized industrial sheet metal processing and created a new market on both sides of
the Atlantic Ocean. The copy nibbler and later, the NC machine, enabled the production of
In 1981 Helmut Autz purchased the first punching-laser combination machine for a job shop.
Major machine manufacturers like
Messer Griesheim became integrators and made
the new tool available for its customers in the
early years. Others focused on obtaining special knowledge and skills based on the application. Jürgen Held of Held Systems was one of
the first of the latter. “We thrive on building machines that not everyone can build or that are
so specialized that they’re needed by only a few.
Right from the start, the laser offered extraordinary opportunities in both directions,” he said.
Building laser machines began to develop as a
business model. Encouraged by this, laser integrating companies spurred the company on.
During the 1970s, technical knowledge and
skills advanced. At the
same time, with the increasing use of the laser,
business applications
calling for technical
components for beam
generation and guiding
and controlling the laser light grew.
At the end of the 70’s, cutting metal sheets
in this way was shaped into an industrial process. Time became ripe for a standard machine.
In Germany TRUMPF was already experimenting with an imported CO₂ laser, but it was beat
to the punch in 1978 by the American competitor
There was always a market for laser cutting.
What was missing was a marketable machine
12
free contours using an automatically controlled
process. At the same time, they were affordable
even for small companies, contracted as job
shops, to process metal sheet with industrial
precision. The first laser cutting machine went
into operation at a job shop in Birmingham in
the UK. But this was a special laser machine.
Autz + Herrmann GmbH; Josef Haepp; Ingrid Fiebak-Fotografie
Dr. Hans-Josef Haepp rides the wave of the laser’s rise at Daimler AG, most recently
as [Director of Production and Materials
Technology in Sindelfingen, Germany].
History of the laser:
A retrospective in five volumes
Strippit that had presented its first laser cutting
machine at the IMTS in the USA. TRUMPF followed in the fall of 1979 with its first punchinglaser combination machine, which provided the
market with flexible sheet metal processing. Customers should not see it as a high-tech dream,
but rather a trusted machine. It is also one that
has added value: a tool made of light that cuts
freely-programmable contours via an NC controller. But Siemens installed the first machine
in a lab environment, not in normal sheet metal
processing facility.
In search of a job shop as additional reference
customers, Prof. Berthold Leibinger, Chairman
of the Managing Board at that time, negotiated with Heidelberg job shop Autz + Hermann.
Helmut Autz was immediately interested. His
colleagues, on the other hand, had their doubts.
They observed how careful the operators at Siemens handled the machines and were sure that
such a machine would never run in a shop or
on the production floor. The sales pitch that
eventually won out was: “Of course, you can
wait for better machines. And naturally better
machines will come. But until then, those companies that earn the jobs will be the ones who
decide now to work with these machines.” For
the former “engineer’s toy,” the laser embarked
on a bold career as a tool that added a competitive edge. Expanding laser cutting into standard uses as machine tools was as significant
for the evolution of the high performance laser
as Ford’s Model-T was for the automobile.
Contact: Autz + Herrmann GmbH, Helmut Autz,
Telephone +49 6221 506 –103, [email protected]
Held Systems Deutschland GmbH, Jürgen Held,
Gernot Walter
Telephone +49 6104 6648 – 0, [email protected]
TRUMPF GmbH+Co. KG, Holger Kapp,
Telephone +49 7156 303 – 31559, [email protected]
1963 // The Snapshot Just three years after the first ruby laser, this book
gives an overview of how the laser was discovered,
what it can do and how to build one.
// John Millar Carroll: The Story of the Laser,
Dutton, ISBN-10: 0525211004, ISBN-13: 978-0525211006,
out of print, available only secondhand
1975 // How to use it One of the early textbooks that helped people
understand the new tool. Today, it shows just how
far application ideas were exceeding the technical
possibilities in those days.
// John E. Harry: Industrial Lasers and their Applications,
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, ISBN-10: 0070844437, ISBN-13: 978-0070844438
1991 // Korea, Laser, Kennedy “How did it happen the way it did?” The historian
Joan Lisa Bromberg links the history of the laser
with that of the USA between 1950 and 1970.
// Joan Lisa Bromberg: The Laser in America 1950 – 1970,
The MIT Press, ISBN-10: 0262023180, ISBN-13: 978-0262023184
2000 // The Big Fight
Who was first ? Gordon Gould fought
Charles Townes for thirty years over the
patent for the laser.
// Nick Taylor: Laser – Thirty-Year Patent War,
Simon & Schuster, ISBN-10: 0684835150, ISBN-13: 978-0684835150
2005 // People and Ideas
Physicist Mario Bertolotti weaves the history
of science from the beginnings of optics to laser
physics with the life of the researcher.
// /Mario Bertolotti: The History of the Laser,
Institute of Physics Publishing, ISBN-10: 0750309113, ISBN-13: 978-0750309110
13
Milestones
What has driven the development of the laser ? What ideas did the major applications
in material processing emerge from ? Find out the answers to these questions
from physicist Mario Bertolotti and industry journalist David Belforte
1971 // Dye lasers
1967 // Sheet
metal cutting
1961 // Q-switch
Q-switching allows short
pulses with very high power
in the nanosecond range. It
was crucial for the first applications like the welding of
springs for watches.
1964 //
CO² laser The CO² laser
was the first laser that
allowed very high power
for laser treatment of materials, and laser machining with larger materials.
1965
The concept took
hold when the first
gas assist nozzle was
1968 // Pulse compression This technique com-
presented. It soon drove the
development of a jobshop
industry and easyto-handle high
powered laser
systems.
compression made it possible to increase the intensity
of a laser beam while
the energy remains
at the same level.
presses pulses down. Pulse
The emission spectra of fluorescent dyes permit tuning
the laser wavelength over a
fairly broad range. Dye lasers are fundamental for
the operation
of many lasers
including some
femtosecond
lasers.
1975
1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1
1960
1970
19
1971 // Micro-via drilling Western Electric
1962 // Semiconductor
laser The semiconductor
1961 // Nonlinear optics The invention of the
laser was the key to putting the theory of nonlinear optics into practice.
This allowed the application of many electrical
techniques in optics.
14
laser had been researched
since 1955 and first produced in 1962. In the 1980s
it was established in the
communication technology and after that it found
its way into many products,
making them remarkably
smaller.
about 1965
// Laser marking The
1963 // Mode-locking
Mode-locking produces a
regular stream of very stable pulses all of the same
intensity. It has been fundamental for laser communication and is at the basis
for femtosecond lasers.
idea of marking metal and
other materials came up
early. Yet it took ten years
before it started to grow
into the widespread application it is today.
was the first to connect
two layers of a multilevel
substrate by a conducting
hole. This technique plays
an important role in the
production of high efficiency solar cells.
50 years of the laser
*2000 — 2009 :
Teraherz lasers,
about 1971
// Turbine
blade drilling The race
1987 // additive process At the beginning was
for faster jet
planes led to a new cooling
technique: laser drilled
holes in the turbine blades.
This application drove developments like precision
multi-axis positioning systems and computer control
of beam focus.
about 1973 // Hermetic
sealing Industry demands for electronic circuitry that could
operate in “unfriendly” environments played an important role in the initiation and growth of industrial lasers.
1985
1982 // Ti-sapphire
laser This laser is used
to generate short pulses
in the pico second and
femtosecond range. The
uneable ti:sapphire laser
made femtosecond lasers
key laboratories tools.
the idea of a California
company that would use
a laser to generate three
dimensional structures in
a light-sensitive polymer.
Later on, methods such as
nano particle generation … Today,
laser technology is
generating more
ideas than ever.
But which of these
ideas will be a
milestone remains
to be seen.
rapid prototyping, laser
deposition welding
and micro stereolithography
emerged
from this
idea.
1995
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 [ …*]
80
1990
1992 // Stent cutting
1988 // Diode laser
pumping This tech-
Credits on page 2
1971 // Circuit adjustment By 1971
Motorola started to
adjust deposited circuits
by evaporating sections
from them. From this idea
sprang one of the earliest widespread industrial
applications.
1982 // Tailored blank
welding This technique
contributed immensely to
the design and production of lighter
weight and more
energy efficient vehicles. More than
400 automated
laser blank welders are currently
installed globally
with that number increasing.
nique allowed all-solidstate lasers which have
become especially important in applications
such as welding, cutting,
drilling and marking.
A fine example of how the
laser revolutionized an industry — medical devices.
Starting from the first application, the laser became the
tool of choice as the world
demand for stents
rose quickly.
Prof. Mario Bert
olotti
The physicist
is the
auth or of a bo
ok on the hi stor y of
laser and is ch the ai
of the Dipartim rm an
ento de Energetica
[De
ment of Energy part] at the
University of
Rome.
David Belfor te
The industry journalist has spent years obse
rv
ing the developm ent
of the laser th
ro
out the world wi ug hth his
trade magazine
In
trial Laser Solu dustions.
15
“We set the
laboratory up in
the laundry room”
In the 1950s, American Eugene Watson began a love affair with science
and technology that continues today. The pioneering laser entrepreneur
shares his memories of laser technology’s beginnings
16
50 years of the laser
Recalling the wild times: In 1966 Gene Watson introduced
Coherent’s first CO2 laser with this ad: “The first laser
that can do real work.”
How did you first get interested in lasers ?
For me it began years before the acronym laser was
invented. In the early 1950s during the Korean War,
I was drafted into the Army and became a radar officer. I was never exposed to technology before, but
I really took to it and became infatuated with science. The thing I liked most about science was that
once you discover a scientific truth it remains forever true. The other thing that attracted me was the
people — their integrity, intellect and thirst for
knowledge. When I got out of the Army, I went
back to the San Francisco Bay area and sought employment at a number of technology-based companies, including Varian Associates. Varian was heavily involved in microwaves, which fit with my radar
background, so they hired me. At Varian I was very
fortunate to establish a lifelong friendship with another self-educated scientist, a fellow named Earl
Bell. He co-founded Spectra-Physics and was the
one who discovered the ion laser.
How did this friendship influence you ?
Earl Bell was a huge influence on me. He had a remarkable life story, which included almost singlehandedly saving an escort aircraft carrier during
World War II. Earl was a very creative thinker. Always had an ingenious solution to whatever the
problem was. We did a number of things together,
including running a steam railroad in New Mexico
and starting Quanta-Ray, a successful company
eventually sold back to Spectra-Physics.
How did you get started working
in laser technology ?
After the 1958 Physics Society meeting where
Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow proposed
that a laser was possible and described what it
would take to make a laser, it was like the fourminute mile. We thought no one could run a mile
in four minutes until one guy finally did, then everybody started doing it. Nobody could make a
laser work until 1960 when Ted Maiman did. Like
so many others, we, too, followed along with our
own ruby laser development. The ruby laser wasn’t
particularly exciting to me because it didn’t seem
to have any commercial application. I was much
more interested in the helium neon laser developed in 1961. We built a helium neon laser on a
breadboard at Varian immediately following the
development at Bell Lab.
The laser business grew rather quickly
after that, didn’t it ?
Yes, I joined Spectra-Physics in 1962 and their
sales soared from $134,000 to $1.7 million just
two years later. This growth was due to a combination of things including the curiosity market,
which was well-funded, and people beginning to
look into potential laser applications. At the time
I could sell 100 of anything that was new. Enough
labs around the world had discretionary funding and if you came up with something new, they
had to have it. They would buy just to satisfy their
17
LASER /// “I sold the first commercial helium neon laser, an
infrared laser, (in the early 1960s) to a customer at an IBM lab
in New York. When the visible, now familiar, red helium neon
laser came along and you could actually see its tantalizing beam
on the wall — that really tickled my imagination and challenged
me mentally on how it might be used.”
LIFE /// “Getting drafted into the Army sent me off in a
direction I probably wouldn’t have otherwise gone in. When
I was in the Army, I became interested in Charles Townes’
maser (the forerunner of the laser) because it used an ammonia
molecule as a source for microwave radiation. I could see
this as a direct application of quantum electronics to practical
radar-based technology.”
Achievement /// Watson has co-founded nine high-tech
start-up businesses — three listed on the NASDAQ and New York
Stock Exchange. But for Watson, “the most satisfying part is
realizing that there are people out there whose lives are better
off because we had a vision and acted on it.”
curiosity. The question was if I could I sell 200. going to be one of the five percenters.” If you reMy job was to start people thinking about how ally believe in something, you better act on it or
they could use the laser as a labor-saving device. forget it. Frequently, I act on it.
I advertised in Scientific American, which had a
wonderful audience of lay people interested in Did you have applications in mind for the laser
science and scientists interested in the general or just a faith in the technology ?
knowledge of science. I thought if we just got Both. The ion laser was the next important laexposure in that group about the various capa- ser for a number of reasons, one of which was it
bilities of lasers, they would spread the word. I produced more power than a helium neon laser
and people wanted more power. Also, the helium
think it sparked some new thinking.
neon laser was characteristically red, but the ion
What made you decide to leave Spectra-Physics ? laser ran the gamut from blues to reds. It was
I came to the conclusion that if I believed in pretty fundamental to believe that people were
the things that they paid me to investigate and going to want different colors for whatever rearecommend, then it was incumbent on me to son. I came across the DuPont Company, which
act on them. Early in my development some- wanted “a white-light ion laser” for a holographic
one said to me, “Five percent of people make data storage development project. In the mid 60’s
things happen, fifteen percent watch things hap- no one made such a laser. DuPont proposed that
pen, and eighty percent don’t know or care that Spectra-Physics make one, but management said
anything is happening.” And I said, “I think I’m no. That’s how Coherent got started, based on
“I think I was born an entrepreneur. Early in
my childhood around age 6, I sold Liberty
magazines from a little pouch I carried around”
18
my “if you really believe this, you better act on it”
philosophy. It was the beginning of my life as a
confessed, but unrepentant, serial entrepreneur.
Could you explain what you mean by that ?
I think I was born an entrepreneur. Early in my
childhood, around age 6, I sold Liberty magazines from a little pouch I carried around. If I
remember accurately, I bought the magazine for
4 cents, sold it for 5 cents, and kept the penny.
You can’t do that today, but in those days you
could. I derive a tremendous amount of satisfaction from the social benefits of starting a business. What we’re really doing is creating wealth,
and by wealth I mean the ability of people to get
married, have families, buy homes, and improve
their standard of living. Whether your standard
of living improves your life, I don’t know, that’s
up to you, but at least it makes it possible.
What truly convinced you the laser
would be a useful technology ?
Earl Bell and I would often discuss the problems
and applications for lasers. For example, we
thought back to the demonstrations of the ruby
laser punching a hole in a razor blade and began
to develop the idea that you could do materials
processing if you had enough average power. The
Anne Brande, Ludwig Photography; Eugene Watson
Quanta-Ray, 1976 (from left): Gene Watson with Toru Maruyama,
the Japanese principle agent of his new company Quanta-Ray,
his old friend and co-founder Earl Bell and Stanford University scientist
Richard L. Herbst. In 1981 Watson and Bell sold Quanta-Ray to
Spectra-Physics — Earl Bell’s earlier creation and Gene Watson’s
former employer. The brand name is still used there.
50 years of the laser
So much for retirement: From his Red Ladder
Ranch in Wyoming,
Gene Watson now helps
technology start-ups.
problem was the ruby laser didn’t have average
power. When the CO₂ laser with its ability to
generate average power came along, Earl and I
immediately realized the significance of it and he
said “well, Gene, that’s the first laser that can do
real work.” It turned out to be true. Our first CO₂
laser customer at Coherent was a Boeing manufacturing research lab that wanted to investigate
cutting and welding titanium. The first laser that
could “do real work” remains a workhorse.
Tell me about the first Coherent laboratory
set up at your house.
Instead of renting space, we moved into my
house. A 220-volt plug was needed to power the
laser, so we set up in the laundry room. We used
the power available for the clothes dryer to do
CO₂ laser experiments and the water for the
washing machine to cool the thing. But we didn’t
have a sufficient distance to throw the beam to
see if we had coherent radiation. So we got some
mirrors and directed the beam out the door and
across the street, onto the garage door of my
neighbor, who I didn’t like because he always
complained. Sure enough a brown spot began to
appear on his garage door and we said “hey,
we’ve got a laser!”
The laser’s potential seemed limitless back then.
What opportunities did you envision ?
Early on I was challenged by the notion that lasers could be revolutionary in medical applications. And I thought the laser would be an important tool in optical spectroscopy applications,
which it is. But the ubiquitous applications please
me the most. Today, every home has lasers in it
somewhere.
Contact: Eugene Watson,
Telephone +1 307 742 7162,[email protected]
19
50 years of the laser
Trumpf and the Laser
Off-the-shelf lasers are too inprecise for one precision engineer, and a young
company head finds the future of sheet metal processing in the USA.
1923
1979
1950
1985
Christian Trumpf and two partners purchase the engineering
workshop Julius Geiger GmbH in Stuttgart,
Germany.
In Schramberg, Germany, Carl
Haas founds a precision mechanical workshop for watch springs.
1957
TRUMPF patents the coordinate guidance system for metal
sheets — the starting point for the NC controller that the laser machine works with later.
1960
TRUMPF is referred to by one
trade magazine as the “nibbling
king” in the growing market of modern, flexible sheet metal processing. The first laser light
is generated in the USA.
TRUMPF introduces the first
combined punching-laser machine. CO₂ lasers with 500 and 700 watt output from the USA are the beam sources.
TRUMPF builds its own 1 kW
CO₂ laser. Haas Strahltechnik
introduces the first laser light cable for industrial use. Its yellow color has remained
the norm.
1989
TRUMPF presents the folded
high performance CO₂ laser —
still today’s best-selling multiwatt laser.
1991
At the LASER trade show, HAASLASER presents its study for the
first multikilowatt continuous wave solid-state
laser suitable for industrial use.
1970
1992
1999
1978
2009
1964
The Haas company and the
Frankfurter Battelle-Institut research laser applications for Carl Haas.
Haas begins laser development
in-house. The company builds its
first solid-state laser.
The new chairman of the Managing Board at TRUMPF, Berthold
Leibinger, returns from an information-gathering trip in the USA with a special piece of
luggage: a 1 kW CO₂ laser.
TRUMPF becomes a shareholder
at HAAS-LASER
The disk laser greatly increases
the performance potential of
diode-pumped solid-state lasers. At the LASER trade show, TRUMPF unveils its first lab
machine.
TRUMPF demonstrates the
first highly brilliant multikilowatt industrial laser with high performance laser diodes as a direct beam source.
STATEMENT
Prof. Ernst Peter Fischer
teaches history of
science at the University of
Konstanz in Germany.
“Where only the
new is considered,
the old grows”
The break-through came in that moment when the new light
shone on old technology. And that’s with good reason, asserts
Anne Wiegandt; Siedler Verlag
book author Prof. Ernst Peter Fischer
In “The Shock of the Old,” British historian David Edgerton describes
how technology and global history have developed together since 1900.
Edgerton’s provocative thesis states that we should pay less attention
to the new technologies that emerged from the 20th century — such as
electricity, aerospace, nuclear power, the transistor, the laser, the Concord, genetic engineering and the Internet, to name a few. Instead, the
historian believes that we should focus our studies more on the technologies people use in their daily lives — corrugated metal, insecticide,
the refrigerator, cement, rickshaws, the telephone, small firearms and
many other such things.
People should view the history of technology not in terms of citing
what is currently being or has been invented. Rather we should look in
greater detail at what technologies people are using on a broad scale.
Those who do so will experience the shock of the old. I recommend that
readers to get ready for this viewpoint: Where only the new is considered, the old grows as logic demands. The new is namely old when it is
there and people are demanding something new again.
The book (written in English) is introduced by a quote from Bertolt
Brecht, who in 1939 described a “Parade of the Old New,” which begins as follows: “I stood on the hill, where I saw the
Old approaching, but it came as the New.
It hobbled on new crutches that no
one had ever seen before and
stank of the new smell
Ernst Peter Fischer
of decay that no one
had ever smelled
Laser — Eine deutsche Erfolgsgeschichte von Einstein bis heute
before.”
Of course, there
(Laser — A German Success Story)
is something
Siedler Verlag, April 2010
ISBN 978-3-88680-946-2
new under the
sun now and then. Unfortunately, our thinking about the new is not
included. It is so old that we should be ashamed. Since the 19th century,
for example, the notion has circulated unchanged that inventors are
ahead of their time and their developments occur too quickly for human
society and ask too much of it. It is possible that there were once such
ideas and inventions. But they soon failed. We do not know the details
because no one writes the history of the losers. Unfortunately, in this
country hardly anyone writes the history of the winners either, such as
the inventions and developments that established themselves and are in
constant use — engines, lasers, transistors, airbags. We lust for what is
new and do not want to know where the old comes from, even when it
runs us over. Maybe we should become better friends with the old. We
need it all the time.
Incidentally — one of the greatest achievements that should be included under the header “Technology and Global History” is the combining
of the laser and metal. For the outsider, this might initially sound as if a
new technology were used on old material. Yet, those who hold that view
are overlooking the characteristic attributes of our society so diversely
influenced by innovation: We want the new, but we live from and with
the old — like corrugated metal sheets that we use to construct almost
anything imaginable, like entire metal airplanes, which we have been
doing for almost 100 years. Perhaps the important and truly humane
advance consists of the old, which is good — sheet metal — combined with
the new, which is also good — the laser. This gives us the better world that
we achieved through knowledge and inventing technology at the beginning of the modern era. Using the example mentioned, machine manufacturers are increasingly showing that the plan is bearing fruit.
E-mail to the author: [email protected]
21
Report
Dream factory
The shipbuilding company Meyer Werft, based in Papenburg, Germany,
has come up with a new approach to building cruise ships. The youngest child
of the shipbuilding revolution is the largest laser machine in the world
22
Lembeck, the pre-fabrication manager, worked on the technical groundwork for the shipyard’s special production strategy. At the beginning of the 1990s, the medium-sized shipyard,
located on the river Ems, was looking for new ways to increase
its productivity. In order to be able to deliver faster and to
free up the docks and the equipping pier faster for the next
ship, a new approach was developed, which is now considered
the future of shipbuilding. “We are shortening the lead time
by breaking down the production process and compressing it
timewise,” says Lembeck of the basic idea. The ship is broken
down into blocks during the planning phase and these blocks
are again divided up in sections each with a respective deck
level. “With this approach, we are no longer building the ship
in the dock. Now, we only assemble the pre-fabricated building blocks there,” he says. “This means that we disassemble our
completely individual and awkward product into manageable
components suitable for series production that we can manufacture in parallel.”
Pre-fabrication, Lembeck’s current department, plays an
important role in this concept. Regardless of whether a block
later becomes engineering areas, passenger cabins or a theater:
All blocks start out as laser-welded and cut panels. The speed
and precision at which welding and cutting occur influences
the productivity of the entire shipyard. “When we scheduled
production, it was clear to us that we would reach our goals
both with regard to cutting and welding only using laser pro-
Main tool in shipbuilding is the CO2 laser invented in 1964. For a long time, the only tool to do the job.
Meyer Werft
The machine comprises one cross member and two pedestals that form the portal. Together, they weigh 260 tons. Three
carts operate along the cross member: The laser cart carries
the 12 kilowatt CO₂ laser* from TRUMPF, the optic cart holds
the hybrid welding head as well as the sensors and the third
cart carries a gripping robot. Their weight adds a further eleven tons. Nevertheless, the carts to a maximum operating speed
of 60 meters per minute. The cross member spans 34 meters
unsupported.
To be able to transport the machine to the shipyard, the
Hessian specialty machine manufacturing company Held Systems built the cross member from three individual pieces. Nevertheless, the dead weight and the carts cause a sag of no more
than 0.15 millimeters. It is the largest laser machine that Held
Systems has ever built. “The largest in the world,” says project
manager and CEO Achim Zinke without equivocation.
In April, when the shipyard wrote the order for the machine, the working width was supposed to be 20 meters. In the
summer of 2008, 20 meters became 30 meters, with an unchanged delivery date. Achim Zinke and his colleagues drafted a completely new design for the massive portal and Held
Systems extended the assembly hall by twelve meters. Now, it
is October 2009 and the machine is in operation on-site as
scheduled. Here, in the new Hall 10 of the Meyer Werft shipyard, the yellow-blue steel giant is almost lost in the vast expanse. Zinke’s project partner at Meyer Werft, Hermann Lembeck, adds only: “In shipbuilding, everything is a size larger.”
Keel laying of AIDAblu:
The very first of
the pre-assembled
blocks floats in.
23
No larger one in sight:
The Held Systems laser
welding machine has a
30-meter working range.
cesses and high quality automation,” recalls Lembeck. “On one
hand, we are faced with the challenge of welding comparatively
thick sheets of different strengths. On the other hand, we have
very large sheet surfaces with a great many weld seams. Under
the thermal stresses that other welding processes generate,
our panels would end up with waves like the North Sea.”
The first panel production line, which is how it has been
frequently described since it was commissioned, began opera-
Achim Zinke, Project Manager
and CEO of Held Systems
24
“Automated laser production has long been integrated in the shipbuilding process, but I know
of no company that is
as far along in this area
as Meyer Werft”
tion in the early 1990s. A hybrid laser process welds long metal
sheets three meters wide and ten meters long edge to edge to
panels measuring 20 by 20 meters. The position of hatches,
piping, and so-called stays are marked on these panels — in
intervals of about 20 to 30 centimeters of parallel welded steel
profiles. Based on these, the lasers cut the cutouts in the sheet
metal. In addition, anti-corrosion protection is removed on
the welded areas. The stay machine — also primarily a construction from Held Systems, is equipped with TRUMPF lasers. In further steps that increasingly require manual work,
mixed teams consisting of steel workers, metal workers, electricians insert walls, haul cable and assemble piping until the
section, pre-fabricated almost like a building block, is moved
to the other end of the hall. The concept has proven reliable:
the new second line in Hall 10 functions exactly the same way.
The only difference is the panels are 30 meters wide. There is
certainly a massive difference between a two-hundred meter
long ship with ten sections and one with only seven.
Thanks to the benefits of serial production, the ship­yard
has managed to meet its challenges in-house. An example of
this is the stay machine: Each panel that reaches it already has
a defined place and a defined task in the future ship. It is a large
“tailored blank” made of steel sheets equipped with a multitude
of precisely positioned cutouts and markings. At the moment
that it goes under the portal, another machine in the neighboring hall has already started to cut stays from very specific steel
stration TLC 209
Grafik Meyerwerft
Report
nd 2009 10 13
“Shipbuilding has
long been unable to
assume the closely
synchronized processes that are routine
in other industries”
profiles in a defined sequence with specified lengths — matching the pattern of cutouts in the panel. A transport bridge
transfers these profiles, piece by piece, to the gripper on the
stay machine. This positions the profiles with a precision of
one-tenth of a millimeter. Then the panel reaches the next
station. As pleasant and simple as the term “block building
concept” sounds, the concept relies on each machine and each
person having the pieces, the tool and the information that
they need to perform the work immediately and properly.
Ingrid Fieback-Kremer; Illustration: Meyer Werft
“For many industries, such a tightly synchronized process
Hermann Lembeck,Manager of
is naturally nothing new,” says Lembeck. “Shipbuilding has long
Pre-Fabrication at Meyer Werft
been unable and unwilling to integrate these processes because
the dimensions are simply different.” It is just as Lembeck would
say everything is one size larger: A panel from Hall 10 in Papenburg has a surface area of 750 square meters. This surface area is
large enough to hold a duplex home with a garden, like those being built in new housing developments in major German cities. But, without the right production flow, productivity potenAnd one block can tower over many an office building. Directing tial does no good and I know of no company that is as far
such components smoothly through a comparatively compact along in this area as Meyer Werft,” he says. The largest laser
production line — and moving them — is an achievement that machine in the world will probably remain an only child for
takes years to perfect. Meyer Werft has gained so much experi- quite some time.
ence and come up with so many technical solutions that it can
increase its range from a 20- to 30-meter working width. With Contact:
this advance, Achim Zinke explains why the shipyard speaks Meyer Werft GmbH, Hermann Lembeck, Telephone +49 4961 81-5566,
so openly about its production system and the role that auto- [email protected], www.meyerwerft.de
mated laser machines play in it. “Obviously, another shipyard Held Systems Deutschland GmbH, Achim Zinke, Telephone +49 6104 6648-20
could order a similar machine. And, in fact, laser production [email protected]
has also long been integrated into the shipbuilding process.
Block by block
During the planning phase, engineers
at Meyer Werft break down the
ship into blocks and these blocks
into sections that are built up again
as panels. At the dock, the prefabricated blocks are “assembled”
into the ship.
not walter | aichwald
2. Bauabschnitt
1. Bauabschnit t
Section II
Steel plate with stays
Panel (Deck)
Section I
Pre-equipped section
Block made up of sections
25
Apiwat Saeheng
Victor Chung, managing
director of JINPAO
presents JINPAO’s most
recent tool: a laserwelding robot, to solve
headache issues.
Leading Technology
JINPAO was established
in 1996 as a “digital sheet
factory.” Based in Thailand,
JINPAO is located in the
Bangpoo Industrial Estate,
about 20 kilometers from
downtown Bangkok. It has
plants on the site for sheet
metal work, stamping, hard
tooling, CNC machining,
painting and welding.
26
Report
“The mixture is the deciding factor”
Victor Chung pushes the Thai job shop JINPAO forward towards international standards
in quality, technology and flexibility. Here he explains why that is good
How has JINPAO been affected
panies, we shifted our production strategy quite
some time ago to the high-mix, low-volume apby the global crisis ?
The economical crisis is a really hard hit for proach that fits well with the current changing
companies all over the world. JINPAO has ex- demands in the marketplace. The installation of
perienced some downturn too, but only in some the TRUMPF TruLaser Robot 5020 was an immarkets like the USA and Europe. Japan could portant step in this Strategy, and I was told by
have created a much bigger impact on the econ- TRUMPF that we were the first one that installed
omy of Thailand, but it hasn’t, thanks to the such a machine in the region. Our modern apJapanese yen being strong. This fact turns into a proach gives us the opportunity to react better
benefit from more exports to Japan. Moreover, to changes and it is one of the reasons why we
extra opportunities have arisen from the two haven’t experienced many crashes during the
major emerging economies — India and China. business turmoil. The production strategy differs from the high-volume, low-mix production
Still, many companies are hesitant
strategy. A manufacturer engaged in this strategy
will always need a certain volume to achieve an
about investments. What’s your point
acceptable breakeven point. He wins his business
of view about that issue ?
In my opinion that’s the wrong way. We are only by price and quality alone. In contrast, a highlooking ahead. We may struggle now, but we mix, low-volume manufacturer will earn his
have increased our efforts not only to overcome business based on his capacity to provide his clithe crisis, but also to be the first to benefit when ent precisely what he needs in exactly the quality,
the recovery arrives. As a part of this strategy we the time and with the required variations. And
recently installed a TRUMPF TruLaser Robot his clients will be willing to pay a premium to get
5020 robot cell* in our welding factory. This de- what they want.
cision is an investment in our future. And when
I’m talking about the future, I’m thinking of the In Thailand manual production is still
next five years, not only of the next few months. quite common. What are the reasons
for you to switch to high end technology ?
What will this future look like ?
We are walking steadily towards high-end equipReplace with: We specialize in sheet metal so- ment to eliminate headache. One of those was
lutions, providing a one-stop service for clients. the ability to weld aluminum. That’s because it is
We are currently handling our clients’ projects, quite difficult to perform manual welding on
mainly in five industries: medical, food machinery, high melting point materials. We couldn’t delivtelecom, consumer products and other industries er to clients on time and it was hard to provide
such as aircraft parts. After eight years of busi- stable aluminum welding quality for sensitive
ness involvement with our clients in these indus- products until we decided to apply the YAG laser
tries, we have found that production volumes welding technology in our facilities. Another ashave decreased, while the production variety has pect that leads us to more high-end machines is
increased. Our clients increasingly want prod- the issue of workforce. In fast developing counucts tailored to their particular mass-customized tries like Thailand costs of every thing are rising
markets. Different from many other Thai com- and that demands new strategic decisions.
High-end equipment needs well qualified
employees. How do you make sure that you have
enough qualified workers to run the machines ?
The learning process began the first day that
Krasstec Co.,Ltd. — TRUMPF’s sole agent in
Thailand — stepped into JINPAO’s factory.
Krasstec has played a prime role as a good coach
to help us reduce the learning curve and lead us
to this high-end technology. With the welltrained employees and the new machines
JINPAO has set a new benchmark on sheet metal forming in the Thai market by fully adopting
European standard in our factories.
How does JINPAO benefit from the
increased use of laser welding ?
The belief that you can optimize design with
YAG laser welding technology will put us ahead
not only in Thailand, but also against other competitors in the world. The laser welding process
allows designers to expand the types of joints,
materials and plating options for their products.
Applying laser welding enables us to make impossible welding possible. Reliability, minimal
heat distortion, high processing speeds, a noncontact process and the flexibility of CNC programming are just a few advantages that have
resulted from the increased use of laser welding.
There are several considerations for changing
designs with laser welding and avoiding the disadvantages of conventional welding. This will
facilitate our approach with new clients in different industries and enable us to provide value
added products to our existing clients.
Contact:
JINPAO, Victor Chung, Telephone + 66 2709 3367,
[email protected], www.jinpao.co.th
In 1994 the first solid-state lasers with robot guided processing optics were employed in car body in white series production.
27
G r ee n w o o d
09:
52
a.
A central server and
a calibration process
ensure identical
marking results
around the
world every
time.
m
.
wa
Nessel
ng
02
:5
2
p. m
.
Identical print, worldwide
Three marking lasers at different ends of the world should produce good markings indistinguishable
from one another using the same parameters: A simple request and the challenge to meet it
28
company. The latter proved to be impossible: Different lasers along with
their operators would always produce more or less differing results. “Now,
you may ask why this is at all important,” adds Hailer “as long as the marking is legible, it fulfills its purpose.” Yet units produced overseas are also assembled using components from Nesselwang. “Different lettering is quickly
noticed and easily gives the impression that parts of varying quality were
used,” says Hailer.
Willi Hailer and his colleagues believed the solution lay in
a centralized laser control unit that stores all layouts together with control information such as output, pulse frequency and track width for the
marking laser. That should ensure that each current and future laser everywhere in the world marks the lettering on the exact same spot using the
exact same font. Yet the plan collided with so-called “scattering” of laser
sources. The output of a beam is controlled by the electricity that powers
the beam source. However, the intensity of the laser light does not decrease
at exactly the rate at which the operator or the control software decreases
The first marking tests were performed in 1965. At that time, the machine moved the workpiece, not the light.
KD Busch
Willi Hailer reaches into a box and spreads different plastic covers and
blank metal housings on the table. All parts bear serial numbers, barcodes
and operating instructions in the same fine black print. However, some of
the tiny letters are light gray or so bold that even the spaces are black. “Such
parts may not ever leave the company,” explains Hailer, who is responsible
for laser marking * at Endress+Hauser Wetzer GmbH.
However, parts with insufficient lettering or print occur infrequently.
The company, located in Nesselwang, Germany, has implemented precautionary measures to highlight the interior as well as the exterior quality of
its products using precision lettering that is always identical. Yet in 2005,
the company was faced with a true challenge that took Willi Hailer almost three years to solve. Demand from America and Asia — China, mostly — jumped, and at Endress+Hauser, the company policy was that a customer order had to be shipped within 48 hours. So management decided
to build new production facilities in Greenwood, S. Carolina, (USA) and
Suzhou (China). But products from these new facilities were to be undistinguishable in quality or appearance from those produced by the parent
Report
Suz
ho
u
1
0:
“Different markings are easily
misunderstood as
a sign of quality
differences”
52
m.
a . the electrical energy. At half the electrical output,
the beam delivers just about half the laser output.
The actual value is just above or below 50 percent.
Willi Hailer, responsible
for laser marking at
This means that the same parameter set generates
Endress+Hauser Wetzer
slightly different lettering on different machines.
The phenomenon is well known and manufacturers
are keeping this scattering — different from manufacturer to manufacturer — within narrow bandwidths.
Added to this, Endress+Hauser uses different processes There, it receives its “factory calibration” set using a reference laser as well
to mark both plastics and metals. All of this is no problem as as sample parts. The result supplements the correction software as a kind
long as it has to do with individually functioning stations operated by of “note table” and describes the behavior of the pump diodes as well as
experienced employees. Yet Hailer wanted to control multiple lasers with the materials used. This step takes only a few hours. Afterwards, the new
different output curves via fixed parameter sets. And he wanted to expand marking laser does not ever return to the Allgäu plant. In the future, it will
the combination at any time or be able to easily replace lasers.
be able to be readjusted online across distances of thousands of kilometers. This online adjustment is then also the third part of the solution. The
With these requirements, Hailer went in search of lasers that would light yield of the pump diodes drops slightly in the lower output range with
deliver precisely the desired results with the necessary light intensity and time so that the laser is readjusted about every three months. In exchange,
for any preferred material. He found none. Instead, he found a partner in now at Endress+Hauser there is a standard diagnostics software as well as
TRUMPF whose marking lasers have very low scattering and who accepted the standardized test pattern. “This functions so well that we are currently
the challenge of finding a solution for the rest of his needs. “It became clear working on a simple tool for automatic calibration,” reports Hailer.
that we needed a calibration process,” recalls Hailer. “But it should remain
The results are impressive. Whether a laser flashes over a component
in seconds flat in Nesselwang, Suzhou or in Greenwood — the results look
open for new stations and function across two oceans.”
One part of the solution involved two technical modifications. completely identical. “TRUMPF confirmed that we are probably the only
First, an auto correction function is included in the software of each company right now that is making such an effort when it comes to laser calEndress+Hauser marking laser. It ensures that the selected electrical out- ibration,” says Hailer. “It is actually astounding,” he explains, “because the
put actually generates the theoretically expected light intensity. Second, alternative is for each factory to employ specialists who manually adapt the
the focus point is adjustable in these marking stations — an unusual fea- laser output. The bottom line is that it is less precise and more expensive.”
ture. The beam can be purposely defocused and the actual energy input
thereby precisely controlled via a second parameter. The second part of Contact: Endress + Hauser Wetzer GmbH, Willi Hailer,
the solution includes a compromise: Essentially, the first stop for each new Telephone +49 8361 308-519, [email protected] , www.wetzer.endress.com
marking laser for Endress + Hauser is Nesselwang.
Quality control with laser seal
Endress + Hauser Wetzer GmbH + Co. KG
Endress + Hauser have been using its marking lasers for a few months even in quality
control. A new TRUMPF laser is coupled
with an automatic test station. Parts that
pass the test will then be immediately
marked, defective parts automatically skip
the marking laser.
has 460 employees worldwide and manufactures temperature measuring instruments and
automation solutions for industrial process
engineering. E+H has production sites in Nesselwang (Germany), Pessano (Italy), Suzhou
(China) and Greenwood (USA). E+H in Reinach (Switzerland) is the parent company.
29
market views
No boundaries, only horizons
Fifty years of the laser were enough to change the world. And that was just the beginning
Last week something clever came up at a conference at Stanford: Gérard Mourou said that in
the field of lasers there are no boundaries, only
horizons. I think that’s a very good phrase. The
business is now at about 7 billion dollars and expanding. It’s not going to keep on growing as fast
as it did in the past, but there are still some exciting opportunities.
There’s a limit to what a market analyst can
longer to come to maturity. The challenges are
known but it takes time to get there and this
process is going to continue.
There will certainly be surprises on the applications side, but mostly the changes will be evolutionary, too. If you sit back and look 50 years
into the future, the big question is: what will be
the biggest challenges in the world that technology could address ? One is health care. The laser will change how we come up with new and
cheaper pharmaceuticals, how we treat and diagnose illness. It’s not that photonic technology
will change medicine as we know it, but it will
help lead to some great breakthroughs. Another
issue is security: systems that can sense intruders, that make your computer safer. I sincerely
believe that the world in 50 years will be a completely different place. Security will be a much
bigger part of our lives.
Tom Hausken works for
Strategies Unlimited
(Penn­Well Corporation).
He is also director of
Components Practice at
Montana State University and holds a
Ph.D. from the
University of
California.
30
Semiconductor lasers were first discussed in 1955. The first highly brilliant multi-kilowatt diode laser came
Don Roper
forecast. Of course we can imagine a killer application, but to me there has to be a clear path
to it. It can’t be entirely imaginary. I’m a market
analyst, not a cheerleader. One vision that’s exciting and extremely challenging is laser-based
fusion energy reactors. To me this is not science
fiction because the path is entirely conceivable.
It would be tremendous if we could achieve that
in 20 to 30 years. And that’s what Mourou is
about. He is the head of the European project
Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) that is build- The next big issue is resources: enering the world’s largest peak power laser. It’s in gy, water, clean air, rare minerals. Lasers
the exawatt class — that’s a billion gigawatts. One can help with environmental monitorthing this laser might be able to do is to com- ing, solar panel and fuel cell manplement linear particle accelerators to explore ufacturing, and grand challenges
fundamental physics. Another exciting develop- like fusion energy. Finally, there’s
ment is the highest-energy laser in the world, mass customization. That sounds
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It like a paradox, but it’s not. Lasers
covers three football fields and its purpose is to can do volume production and altry to achieve fusion energy. These are genera- low for flexible manufacturing. The
tional projects which will be remembered after few global players that are pushing
the next 50 years.
these developments ahead now will
With regard to technologies, there are no also be the main players in the furevolutionary, only evolutionary changes going ture: Germany as well as North
on. There’s a lot of room for progress in diode America. China is catching up but
lasers*. Especially in high-power diodes there won’t be able to capture the highcould be incredible success. Another thing that performance laser market.
is happening now is that fiber lasers are developing quickly, as are ultra-fast lasers. They are Mail to the author:
using new wavelengths, too — such as green or [email protected]
ultraviolet lasers. These technologies have taken
in 2009.
Where’s the laser ?
Maybe in your neighbor’s Christmas lights ? High power
consumption at Christmas time makes it an especially good time of year to use the clean
energy of solar cells to charge batteries for LED Christmas lights. Solar cells are more
efficient and, above all, save on energy, which helps to continuously broaden their use in
new applications. Nowadays, grooves in silicon produced by lasers save just as much
space as tiny conductive holes in the silicon substrate that are bored quick as a flash by
pulsed infrared lasers. The result is a higher level of efficiency in the cells and improved
production rates at lower material and manufacturing costs. That’s why engineers get one
or two bright ideas every few years for making solar power more attractive for every day
Gernot Walter
uses, such as giving your snow-covered yard that Christmas spirit.
Gernot Walter
1 Gillette
was the name of the unit that engineers and researchers used to measure
the energy of their lasers in the early days of laser technology.
They fired one pulse into a 10-pack and counted the perforated blades.
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