A laser welding method is capable of easily restraining poor welding when spatters adhere to a protective glass of an optical system. The laser welding method includes a step of calculating a decrease-amount of the laser power before laser welding is performed by irradiating a welding portion of a workpiece with the laser beam having a predetermined power. The step of calculating the decrease-amount includes irradiating the welding portion with an inspecting laser beam having a power smaller than the predetermined power, receiving a return beam of the inspecting laser beam, measuring an intensity of the return beam, and comparing the intensity of the return beam with a standard intensity to calculate an amount of decrease in power of the inspecting laser beam at the welding portion.

The invention relates to a method for determining at least one beam propagation parameter (M.sup.2, w.sub.0, θ, z.sub.0) of a laser beam, comprising: directing the laser beam through a lens arrangement towards a spatially resolving detector, imaging the laser beam at a plurality of different focus positions (F1, . . . ) relative to the spatially resolving detector by adjusting a focal length (f.sub.1, . . . ) of the lens arrangement, and determining the at least one beam propagation parameter (M.sup.2, w.sub.0, θ, z.sub.0) by evaluating an intensity distribution (l(x,y)) of the laser beam on the spatially resolving detector at the plurality of different focus positions (F1, . . . ). The method comprises adjusting the focal length (f.sub.1, . . . ) of the lens arrangement by arranging lens elements (A1, . . . ; B1, . . . ) having different focal lengths (f.sub.A1, . . . ; f.sub.B1, . . . ) in a beam path of the laser beam.

The thermal processing device includes a stage, a continuous wave electromagnetic radiation source, a series of lenses, a translation mechanism, a detection module, a three-dimensional auto-focus, and a computer system. The stage is configured to receive a substrate thereon. The continuous wave electromagnetic radiation source is disposed adjacent the stage, and is configured to emit continuous wave electromagnetic radiation along a path towards the substrate. The series of lenses is disposed between the continuous wave electromagnetic radiation source and the stage, and are configured to condense the continuous wave electromagnetic radiation into a line of continuous wave electromagnetic radiation on a surface of the substrate. The translation mechanism is configured to translate the stage and the line of continuous wave electromagnetic radiation relative to one another. The detection module is positioned within the path, and is configured to detect continuous wave electromagnetic radiation.

The machine learning apparatus includes: a state data observing unit which observes state data of the laser apparatus, including data output from a reflected light detecting unit for measuring a reflected light amount; an operation result acquiring unit which acquires a success/failure result indicating whether the machining has been started successfully by the laser beam output from a laser oscillator; a learning unit which learns light output command data by associating the light output command data with the state data of the laser apparatus and the success/failure result of the machining start; and a decision making unit which determines the light output command data by referring to the light output command data learned by the learning unit.

A laser machining device includes a first focus movement amount calculation section configured to calculate a focus movement amount based on comparison of a first measurement value obtained by averaging a plurality of measurement values measured by a returning light measurement unit within a first period and a second measurement value obtained by averaging a plurality of measurement values measured by the returning light measurement unit within a second period that is temporally later than the first period; and a focus position correction section configured to correct a focus position during laser machining based on the focus movement amount, and the first period is a period shortly after initiation of laser emission when the external optical system is not warmed up or is a period after correcting the focus position, and the second period is a period after passage of a certain time duration when the external optical system is warmed up.

A laser processing head is presented. The laser processing head includes a laser entry module for introducing a laser beam; a collimating module for collimating the laser beam; a scanning module for deflecting the laser beam; a focusing module for focusing the laser beam; and at least one diaphragm for increasing a scan field of the laser beam. The diaphragm comprises a diaphragm body and an opening, and is configured to limit a cross-sectional area of the laser beam by the diaphragm body. The at least one diaphragm is positioned optically downstream of the laser entry module and optically upstream of the focusing module. A laser processing system including the laser processing head is also presented. Furthermore, a method for increasing a scan field of the laser beam is also provided.

A device for aligning a processing optical assembly of a laser processing machine includes an entrance region for receiving a processing laser beam, a focus zone forming region for forming a measurement focus zone by the received processing laser beam along a target axis, and an imaging unit having a lens and a detector surface. The lens is configured to image measurement laser radiation that leaves the focus zone forming region after the measurement focus zone has been formed, along an imaging axis predefined by the target axis, onto the detector surface. The processing optical assembly is configured to shape a laser beam in the laser processing machine and to focus it along an incident beam axis so that a processing laser beam forms a preset Bessel beam focus zone in a workpiece to be processed.

A laser welding apparatus includes: a laser oscillator configured to emit a laser beam toward a welding portion of a welded material; an optical interferometer configured to generate an interference signal that indicates an intensity of an interference beam of a measurement beam reflected by the welding portion and a reference beam; and a derivation unit configured to generate, based on the interference signal, two-dimensional tomographic image data indicating a correlation among a distance in a proceeding direction of welding of the welding portion, a depth of the welding, and an intensity of the interference signal, to extract specified depth tomographic image data within a specified range from the two-dimensional tomographic image data, and to derive a depth for each distance based on the intensity of the interference signal in the specified depth tomographic image data.

Provided are a housing and a handling method for a processing device that can prevent the adherence of dust particles and the like on a sensor. A housing accommodates a sensor that detects an energy beam. The housing comprises: a chamber provided with a transparent member through which the energy beam can pass; and a supply port for supplying gas into the chamber. The sensor detects an energy beam incident thereon via the transparent member.

The invention relates to a laser brazing system, comprising a braze tool having a laser configured to emit a laser beam along a radiation path, and a braze wire tool being configured to guide a braze wire along a wire path intersecting the laser beam. The system comprises a jig comprising a first alignment surface and a first blocking surface, wherein the first alignment surface is configured to be in contact with the braze wire while the first blocking surface blocks at least a first part of the emitted laser beam, and a detector arranged in the radiation path and configured to detect the emitted light of the laser beam passing the jig.