Newport Corporation's Spectra-Physics Lasers Division has added the Hippo 532-14 to its Hippo family of Q-switched diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) industrial lasers.
The Hippo 532-14 provides 14W of 532nm output at 100kHz with a short pulse width of less than 30ns.
Used for solar thin-film scribing applications, the laser is suitable for the high-speed, multi-beam scribing of P2 and P3 layers in thin-film a-Si and CdTe photovoltaic structures.
Scribe speeds in excess of 12m/s have been achieved on tandem-junction a-Si P2 layers with isolation lines 65 microns wide and 2.5 microns deep.
Features of the Hippo 532-14 include its short pulse width (less than 30ns at 100kHz) and high peak power (up to 16kW at 50kHz).
Both help to reduce undesired thermal effects such as heat-affected zones, material recast and the micro-cracking of a substrate.
The pulse-to-pulse stability of the Hippo 532-14 at higher pulse repetition rates (up to 200kHz) translates to good scribe consistency at high processing speeds on solar panels, according to the company.
The TEM00 beam profile and beam quality (M2 less than 1.3) translates to a larger depth of field for the Hippo 532-14, making it more forgiving of variations in glass substrate flatness and surface irregularities.
With proprietary Eternalign permanent optics mounting technology and field-replaceable key components such as diodes, fibres and harmonic modules, the Hippo 532-14 is rugged and has a low cost of operation.
The Hippo 532-14 laser was showcased at Laser World of Photonics 2009 on 15-18 June in Munich, Germany.
