Abstract

The first fiber lasers appeared on the scene in the late 1990’s with the first kilowatt class fiber lasers appearing in early 2002. Since that time the output power of these devices have rapidly increased for both single mode and multimode devices. During 2012 the first 20 kilowatt single mode fiber laser was delivered followed by the first 100 kW multimode fiber laser in early 2013. Fiber Laser technology has gained worldwide acceptance in all major markets involved in material processing.

© 2013 Optical Society of America