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Laser Systems


Since 2005, SDILasers has embarked on a development program using its own existing laser technology and funding to develop turnkey systems. These include a laser-based paint stripper and mold cleaner for the aerospace industry, THz imaging system for the security industry, and materials processing. At present SDILasers is the only commercial laser company developing and focusing on large-scale laser-based decoating technology. A crucial success factor has been the ability to strip at a rate of ≥10m².h^-1 without damaging the substrate. The result has been:

~30% reduction in comparative cost ~500% reduction in waste production Ability to strip composite materials Marketing advantage of an “environmentally friendly” label Improved working environment

Besides the above-mentioned advantages, there are also a number of salient properties of the CO₂ laser that distinguish it from competing laser systems:

Ability to safely paint strip composite materials. Radiation absorption characteristics of the laser wavelength must be high for the paint layer. Aircraft paints have the following absorption characteristics: ~92% for the CO₂ laser ~11% for the Nd:YAG laser ~11% for the diode laser Radiation absorption characteristics of the laser wavelength must be negligible for the substrate. Aircraft frames are manufactured from aluminium alloys for which the laser absorption is: ~2% for the CO₂ laser ~6% for the Nd:YAG laser ~12–13% for the diode laser. The efficiency of the laser pulse to remove the paint layer is greatly determined by the energy in the pulse and the temporal shape. The CO₂ laser is by far the easiest laser of which the pulse shape can be tailored. One of the other systems being developed that shows exceptional promise is THz imaging. This system has a wide variety of applications including:

THz imagers for military that can “see through” bad weather THz tomographic imaging for medical applications Spectroscopic equipment for analysing the structure of drugs, Security-screening equipment for homeland security Screening of large volumes of packages by the Postal Service For more information on these systems use the appropriate menu links.