Comparison of new generation lasers: MOPA-CuBr laser and Nd:YAG laser used for precision processing of the materials

Experimental results on the micro-hole drilling, hole trepanning and micro-cutting in thin metal foils using both competing lasers: CuBr and Nd:YAG (532 nm) are presented in this paper. The micromachining were carried out in aluminium (150 μm), brass (150 μm), stainless-steel (200 μm) and copper (50 μm) foils. The experiment results shows, that the Nd:YAG laser is more reliable and stable than the CuBr laser when the precision processing of the materials is considered. However the CuBr quasi-tophat beam results in more accurate for material processing than the Nd:YAG laser Gaussian beam.