Laser Materials Processing

This volume discusses the basic principles necessary to understand lasers, explains laser interactions with materials, and surveys the wide variety of industrial applications of the major laser types, covering in detail the operating mechanisms of carbon dioxide, Nd:YAG, and excimer lasers. It presents lasers as manufacturing tools rather than laboratory devices. Theory of laser operation; propagation of laser light; considerations for real-world laser beams; laser-material interactions; safety; cutting; welding; heat treatment; laser weld; overlay; excimers.