It is difficult to imagine the manufacturing industry without the laser, as it offers a multitude of technological advantages compared to more conventional methods: rapidly cutting metallic and non-metallic materials without putting any strain on the material; welding, soldering, and hardening safely while achieving the best possible quality. The laser is durable and flexible as a labeling or marking tool, and laser drilling and structuring provides the utmost precision in the world of micro- and nano-dimensions. LASYS, which takes place March 4-6 at the new Stuttgart trade fair center, will be the first international trade fair for laser systems in materials processing that demonstrates?specifically tailored to laser applications?the laser systems' many uses and where to apply them economically in materials processing.

Currently, laser macro-processing is still dominated mainly by laser cutting systems. For example, Robot Technology GmbH focuses on laser cutting of metals and plastics. In the area of fiber lasers, the company will not only present state of the art robot-controlled 3D cutting technology at LASYS 2008 but also the scanner robot, which has a new changing station for nozzles to achieve significant time cuts.

When it comes to laser cutting systems for SMT templates, LPKF Laser & Electronics AG has something special to offer at the show with its new LPKF StencilLaser G 6080: "A completely new machine design and intelligent lightweight construction with highly stable carbon-fiber material achieve dynamics unsurpassed to date. With the familiar precision, the system works up to 50 percent faster than previous StencilLasers, making it by far the most productive template cutting system on the market at the moment," says LPKF's Sebastian Gerberding. For the new development, a lot of emphasis was placed on simple operation. A novel loading procedure shortens the set-up time of the machine for cutting framed and loose template panels. The large working area of 600 mm x 800 mm allows the cutting of two stencils in a single work step.

Welding has become another important task in laser technology. ARGES GmbH, for example, will present its Remote Welding Elephant at the show. Here, the beam deflector is arranged behind the focusing device. The motorized version with its fast, precise, and positively driven galvanometer drive facilitates diffraction-limited beam expansion. In this way, focused diameters can be adjusted on the component and thus new 3D applications can be introduced. The 50mm aperture makes the scan head particularly suitable for operations with high-performance fiber and fiber-coupled lasers. One of the advantages during heavy duty operation is the newly developed cross-jet nozzle. According to ARGES, it reduces contamination at the protective glass, prolonging service intervals and therefore significantly reducing running costs.

A trend towards higher flexibility and increased economic efficiency can be noticed at laser processing centers. ERLAS ? Erlanger Lasertechnik GmbH ? focuses on fiber-supported laser systems such as disk lasers, fiber lasers, or fiber-supported diode lasers for its flexible multi-axis laser processing centers. These processing centers can be equipped for tasks such as welding, coating, or hardening. At LASYS the company will be presenting a novel processing head for temperature-controlled laser beam hardening with fiber-supported laser systems with a power of up to 6 kW. The system can be quickly converted to build-up welding. So far, the company has had positive experiences with fiber and disk lasers. The main application areas of these technologies are joint welding, such as stainless steel.

Variomodul, the clever modular system, puts SITEC Industrietechnologie GmbH in a position to plan, develop, and complete application-specific laser processing devices within the shortest timeframes, no matter whether tasks such as cutting, welding, hardening, or drilling by laser are involved. At the show the company will present innovative devices for laser materials processing. This includes Variomodul, the Standard LaserWorkStation LWS with indexing table. Depending on the task, two to four clamping devices can be arranged here. The concept allows different axis configurations for laser processing as well as integrating different laser beam sources. In the area of laser application, quality assurance concepts are increasingly gaining in significance, and quality control is of major importance at SITEC. The company's systems solutions comprise system and quality assurance concepts such as temperature-controlled process control systems, vision systems, or plasma super-vision systems, which allow full in-process control.

According to the experts, laser processing of non-metallic materials is rapidly increasing. This topic will also be one of the focal points at LASYS. Now that the process of laser welding plastics has established itself over several yeas in standard applications in the automotive industry, such as with close welding of sensor housings, new areas of application are opening up, according to LPKF. This is due to customer acceptance as well as to further technological developments. Two important trends can be observed here: on the one hand, the growing area of medical technology is discovering the excellent focusability for applications in microfluidics, while on the other hand, a trend towards large 3D components, such as rear lights, could be detected in automotive engineering. The laser experts are convinced that crucial advantages of laser technology, such as accurate energy dosage, good facilities for process supervision and cleanliness will help laser technology to establish itself further in the area of application of non-metallic materials.

Approximately a quarter of the worldwide requests for laser systems in materials processing was attributed to laser microprocessing in 2006. "Demanding every smaller components in industry and research," says Mandy Moeckel from the marketing department of 3D Micromac AG, "makes it necessary to produce ultra-precise micro-structures. In addition, the processing of the often very fragile components must be practically free from any thermal pressure in order to prevent micro-cracks." Non-contact materials processing by means of laser is the most suitable procedure here. Different technologies of laser microprocessing allow production of complex geometries, thereby guaranteeing maximum accuracy, high aspect ratios, and best edge quality while keeping material throughputs as high as possible. The company has developed microSPIN, a laser processing system for ablating thin layers on flexible substrates, which will be presented at LASYS. Flexible substrates such as paper or foil can be processed as well as layers with different properties such as solar cells, sensors, actuators, and electronics?all based on polymers. The special feature of this laser device lies in processing the substrates by means of laser during the continuous coiling process from roll to roll ? on the fly so to speak.

A further highlight of LASYS 2008 is the "Baden-Wurttemberg" combined stand, which is jointly organized by Baden-Wurttemberg International (bw-i) and Optische Technologien Photonics BW e.V., the Baden-Wurttemberg competence network. On 100 square meters, smaller companies and start-ups as well as university and technical college institutes based in Baden-Wurttemberg will have the opportunity to present their innovations. Furthermore, the Baden-Wurttemberg GmbH State Trust will present numerous research projects at the combined stand.

A first-class supporting program will demonstrate that LASYS 2008 is more than just an international exhibition platform: for the first time, the Stuttgarter Lasertage, whichis organized by the Institut fur Strahlenwerkzeuge, will take place as part of LASYS 2008. Furthermore, on March 4 from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, at the International Congress Center Stuttgart, an introductory seminar for laser materials processing will make its debut with top-class professionals. And on March 3, one day prior to the opening of the fair, the Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Lasertechnik e.V. will be hosting the WLT Laser Summer School 2008 at the new Stuttgart trade fair center.

For more information, visit www.lasys-messe.de.

Wed Jan 16 12:25:00 CST 2008