(Image: II-VI)

II‐VI (Saxonburg, PA; NASDAQ:IIVI) has unveiled a line of freeform beam-shaping laser optics for high-power fiber and direct-diode laser materials-processing applications.

The use of lasers in materials processing provides a degree of freedom beyond that of other processing methods, and that is the high brightness and coherent of the heat source (the laser spot). As a result, laser processing heads with engineered beam geometries tailored to the application can optimize process efficiency, and minimize equipment cost and size, by putting the light only where it's needed. II-VI's freeform diamond turning capabilities allow the production of custom high-power laser optics with freeform surfaces for custom beam shaping used in advanced laser processing.

Bessel-focus lenses
"II-VI is leveraging its deep expertise in freeform nanotechnology surfacing techniques to offer a nearly limitless number of custom design options to optimize laser-based materials processing tasks," said John Ryan, the company's VP of sales. "Our Bessel-focus lenses in particular enable our customers to engineer beams with elongated depth of focus that greatly improve the efficiency of their laser-processing heads."