In this post a few of the terms / jargon / vocabulary that comes with laser machines. Hopefully this post will help clear up some of the terms you hear thrown around the laser machine industry but can’t seem to understand what they mean. So go ahead, check it out, and hope you learn something.
Terms Used When Describing Laser Parts
- Laser resonator: The laser resonator is also known as the laser source. This is where all the the light that is used to cut material is coming from. Inside the laser resonator is rare earth elements (materials, usually metals, that are very rare) that are stimulated to produce light. From here all the light produced is transferred through the laser machine to the laser head where it will be focused onto something with a laser lens to cut it. Check out the terms used when talking about laser parameters section to learn more.
Terms Used When Talking About Laser Parameters Or Settings
- Focus lens or mirror: A lens or mirror in the laser head that is responsible for making light focus on one point. This is how laser machines are able to cut through the material. It gets a bunch of light and focuses on a certain point/area. Around this point/area enough heat happens that it’s able to burn through material.
- Focus point / (the spot): The focus point is the area in which most light meets when it passes through the focus lens (see bullet point 1). Around this point/area, is where most heat is generated.
- Focal length/distance: The focal length is the distance between the focusing lens/mirror and the focus point or focal spot. The longer the focal length, the further away the focal point is. Also, the longer the focal length, the bigger the spot size. The shorter the focal length, the smaller the spot size.
- Depth Of Focus: The length of the area where most light intensity is happening. Around this area is where you want the metal plate to be when cutting with your laser machine.
Nozzle Standoff Distance: This is the distance between the tip of the nozzle and the metal plate. Nozzle standoff is also referred to as cutting gap. Usually, you’ll want to know this measurement when trying to get the right cut quality for a particular laser cutting job.
