Extensive Application Area and Broad Prospect of Fiber Laser Market
The emerging fiber laser technology market is expected to make significant progress in the sensing and medical field, and the innovation of laser welding and 3D printing technology means that material processing is still the main market focus in the medium term.
According to IDTechEx, a market research company, "Fiber lasers are compact, energy-efficient laser systems that provide the best beam quality for applications requiring high accuracy. Because the technology is fiber-based, it does not have free-space optics and mechanical components. Provides excellent system stability and long product life. Directing laser radiation to the application site via fiber optics ensures safe human operation and simplifies integration with the machine."
Therefore, in various industries, the replacement of traditional laser or non-laser technologies with fiber lasers can maximize processing speed and accuracy while minimizing operating costs. The chart below shows some of the end industries that can benefit from using fiber laser technology.
Inside fiber lasers, rare earth metal dopants can be used as gain media and determine output wavelengths: 1 μm, 1.5 μm, and 2 μm are common infrared bands optimized for fiber laser applications in material processing, sensing, and healthcare. In addition, the mid-infrared supercontinuum (broadband) laser source and the visible doubling laser source can also be used for sensing and medical care applications. IDTechEx points out: "Fiber lasers can easily achieve an average output power of several kilowatts or function as an ultra-fast pulse energy depending on the system architecture."
Addressable Market
Material processing: Continuous improvement and innovation make fiber lasers occupy a large share of the laser material processing market. However, continuous technological innovation led by major suppliers such as U.S. IPG Photonics enables fiber lasers to further replace other non-laser technologies.
Market research firm IDTechEx stated that advances in fiber laser welding and 3D printing technology are important for the lightweighting of the automotive and aerospace manufacturing industries.
Commercial applications of sensing fiber lasers in sensing are often limited to high-precision lidar (LiDAR) applications such as surface mapping, ranging, and wind speed sensing. In addition, it is expected that emerging fiber laser technology will have a significant impact on gas sensing and structural health monitoring over the next decade.