Focus
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EDITORIAL
The laser beam – a universal tool
Lightwave of the Future
The laser beam – a universal tool|
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Gwatt on Lake Thun – a Mecca for laser professionals
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Gwatt – where laser professionals develop new ideas
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The Janus-faced aspects of applied research
It is well-known that mankind differs from the animal world in three distinct characteristics: abstract thinking by means of concepts, language, and the use of tools made by man himself. A lot of the world in which we live today has been created by tools such as the computer to process ideas, or by machines to process materials.
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What is less well-known is the fact that our region (more precisely, the Alemannic area that once stretched from Augsburg to Geneva, and from Chiavienna to Strassbourg), has been and still is the global leader in the inventing and manufacturing of new precision mechanical tools as well as in their use in machines.
25 years of collaboration: a Russian-Swiss success story
14 Cutting metal with laser is like cutting through butter 16 Harvesting the sun more efficiently 18 Joining Forces: Doctoral Research at BUAS and University of Bern 20 Swept-Source laser sources at the BUAS OptoLab 23
Z-LASIK – eye surgery without blades
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Fiber lasers: Processing material with glass fibers
Dr. Christoph Harder President Swisslaser.Net Photo : Swisslaser.Net
26 ROFIN-LASAG: Pioneers in laser welding of copper 28 SILITEC – more efficiency and fewer costs thanks to sand 30 Well-prepared to start international business with Fit2GlobalizeTM
Cover: Impressions from the laser lab Photo: BUAS-EIT
When laser technology was invented in California 50 years ago, Switzerland was soon looking into ways of using this intense beam of light as a contact-free tool. A contact-free tool never wears out and thus carries immense advantages such as high precision at all times and no downtimes for replacement. Soon some institutes and companies around Bern came together and researched the use of laser technology for the purpose of processing materials. They developed processes and beam tools, and then sold them worldwide. Today Switzerland is one of the leading nations in the manufacturing of laser beam tools in competition with Germany, Japan and the USA.
Laser beam sources developed further: in raw power and strength, through beam guidance in fibers, in their precision, and in their modulation. As a result, new applications continue to be created for use in, for example, medical operations, the manufacture of bio-compatible surfaces on implanted pieces of metal, and in the processing of synthetics. 50 years after the invention of laser technology, the progress of beam tools continues unabated. Bern University of Applied Sciences is in a good position to continue the very old Alemannic tradition of developing mechanical tools, and to contribute to our quality of life with newly developed laser beam tools.
Dr. Christoph Harder President Swisslaser.Net
Since the 90’s, Bern University of Applied Sciences in Burgdorf, first at the IALT, now at the ALPS, has been researching and developing new laser beam tools and ways of processing materials in close co-operation with industry. The first development phase looked into ways of using laser to minimie tool wear. In a later phase, researchers sought ways to cut the materials more exactly and then weld them in such ways that lighter and yet safer cars could be produced, and motors that need less fuel could be built.
I m p r e ssu m Editors Patrick Studer, Diego Jannuzzo Translation Carmel Widmer-O'Riordan, Patrick Studer Adress BFH-TI, hitech-Redaktion, Postfach, 2501 Biel, E-Mail Editor hitech@bfh.ch Homepage hitech.bfh.ch Circulation 1500 issues Graphics and layout Ingrid Zengaffinen Print Stämpfli Publikationen AG, Wölflistrasse 1, Postfach CH-3001 Bern – hitech 2/2012, Special Edition English: September 2012
This magazine is available in German and French under: www.hitech.bfh.ch
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hitech 2 / 2012
2/ 2012 hitech 3