Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
NIST Fires Up Extended Calibration Service for Laser Welding and More
The new service could be employed to calibrate high-power lasers used for applications such as cutting metals.
NIST PML's Sources and Detectors Group has launched a new multikilowatt laser power measurement service capability for high-power lasers of the sort used by manufacturers for applications such as cutting and welding metals and by the military for more specialized uses such as defusing unexploded land mines.
Previously, NIST was the only national metrology institute in the world to offer calibrations for laser power and power meters above 1.5 kilowatts (kW). The new service allows NIST to extend its offerings for power levels up to 10 kW. Light focused from a 10 kW laser is more than a million times more intense than sunlight reaching the Earth.
Researchers used the new system recently to calibrate a company's power meter at 5 kW with an uncertainty of about 1% over two standard deviations, the accuracy and precision threshold necessary for military and advanced manufacturing applications.
Compared to traditional welding methods, laser welding is lower cost and has a smaller environmental footprint. Lasers could potentially be used in 25% of industrial welding applications, which could result in significant savings for U.S. manufacturers.
###
For more information:
-see the Tech Beat article NIST Launches New Calibration Service for High-Power Lasers.
-read about NIST PML's Optoelectronic Measurement Services.
-get a technical description of NIST's laser calibration services.