Coherent and II-VI Partner on Turnkey Laser Welding Solution

Coherent and II‐VI Incorporated will collaborate on a supply agreement meant to enable faster process development and streamlined production services for automotive laser welding applications. Specifically, the combination of II-VI’s advanced laser processing heads and Coherent’s Adjustable Ring Mode (ARM) fiber laser technology delivers power adjustment and beam positioning on the fly to optimize welds at high speeds and qualities over large working areas, increasing process efficiency and decreasing ownership costs. The companies recommend this turnkey solution for high-strength alloy welding in automotive body-in-white applications and mass-production copper welding in electrification applications.

Coherent will provide customers with a single point of contact throughout the development and deployment of welding sub-systems combining the Coherent ARM fiber lasers and the II-VI RLSK and Highmotion 2D remote laser processing heads.

“System builders will get the best of both companies’ advanced technologies, with the logistical simplicity of a single source,” says Jarno Kangastupa, managing director of High-Power Fiber Lasers at Coherent. “The advanced optics and smart software of II-VI’s laser processing heads enable customers to fully leverage the Coherent ARM laser with unique ability to control, in real time, the laser beam shape and power distribution with great precision and over a wide dynamic range, delivering state-of-the-art remote laser welding.”  

“The Coherent ARM laser and the II-VI remote laser processing heads each utilize unique designs that are very effective in suppressing back reflections,” adds Karlheinz Gulden, senior vice president of Laser Devices and Systems at II-VI, “thus enabling extremely high-quality welds in reflective materials such as aluminum and copper, which are nowadays widely used in automotive, including in e-mobility applications. This combination enables a constant laser power level of up to 8 kW, which is beneficial for many copper and aluminum applications.”