CO2 vs. fiber laser
Arnold uses laser cutting with both CO₂ lasers and fiber lasers.
The difference between CO₂ lasers and fiber lasers lies in their design. To generate the laser beam, a gas mixture of CO₂, nitrogen and helium is electrically activated in the CO₂ laser. In contrast, the fiber laser uses a glass-like solid with optically active ions as the laser-active medium.
CO₂ lasers are among the most commonly used laser types when it comes to cutting metal. Arnold likes to use them for thick materials because they produce a better cutting quality compared to fiber lasers.
However, there are also many advantages to using fiber lasers in metal processing. In particular, their high electro-optical conversion efficiency speaks for itself, as fiber lasers can convert more energy into light than CO₂ lasers. They therefore also require less power to cut metal.
In a nutshell, their advantages are
- a higher cutting speed,
- lower operating costs,
- less space requirement (more compact systems) and
- narrower laser bars and contours, especially in the thin sheet steel sector.
Arnold has been using laser technology for metal processing in its own production facilities since 1983.
You can find a list of the laser cutting machines used in the Automation section.
