The advancement of glass technology over the years has made glass one of the most crucial engineering materials in automotive, architectural, flat panel display, medical, and electronics applications. Through accurate and precise cutting techniques, manufacturers can achieve the desired shape and size of the glass. This is where laser-based tools or processes take the center stage. As compared to conventional processing methods, laser precisely cuts through a thin glass in a fraction of a second and shapes accurate lengths of material, leaving a clean, high-quality surface finish and robust, rounded corners. With the growing demand for precision zero-taper drilling and cutting in glass and other transparent materials, the field of laser technology is advancing continually to revolutionize the process of cutting brittle material.

Transforming drilling and cutting process with its cutting-edge laser technology is Arizona-based company AdValue Photonics, a leading manufacturer of innovative fiber lasers for materials processing, scientific, LIDAR, and medical markets. The company develops and manufactures high-quality, creative, and cost-effective products based on its proprietary fiber laser technology. “We aim to add value to our customers’ business by delivering the most innovative and reliable laser products,” says Shibin Jiang, President and CEO, AdValue Photonics.

Established in 2007, AdValue Photonics stays true to its mission of adding value to the market via product range from fiber lasers, fiber amplifiers, broadband light sources, to name a few. The company customizes glass composition, doping concentration, and fiber geometry to enhance the reliability and performance of laser which is instrumental in addressing the clients’ unique business demands and requirements. The company takes pride in the performance of its product line EVEREST that achieves high peak power with good beam quality by suppressing the optical damage and optic nonlinearities. “As the name suggests our products are capable of attaining the highest peak power,” adds Jiang.

AdValue Photonics utilizes rare-earth doped fiber that offers high output power with multiple pulse widths and spectral widths. AdValue Photonics’ fiber lasers deliver unparalleled process speed and hole quality for drilling and cutting the glass and ceramics materials. As the glass industry is advancing, the appetite for precision zero-taper holes in the glass material has grown significantly. Take the telecommunication industry, for instance. Players across this field need to use extremely thin or fragile glass for devices in 5G or 6G applications—with less attenuation and high power. Considering these present and future applications, the company meets this increasing demand for high precision zero-taper with the unique combination of laser parameters and material processing development and controls.

Leveraging years of expertise and experience in laser technology, the company serves clients across the industries and is currently focusing on the clean energy field, particularly drilling holes in glass cover plates of solar panels. AdValue Photonics demonstrates the capabilities of its laser technology for drilling holes into double glass solar panels quickly with high quality. The use of glass panels in the solar industry will promote green energy as glass does not release any harmful chemicals into the soil while decomposing. Additionally, the two-piece glass solar panel will deliver higher efficiency and have more durability. With further development, the glass will be thinner and lighter to make the solar panel installation on roofs and mounting on walls easier. This drives the company to continuously put efforts for optimizing its laser to double the speed of drilling the holes in glass. Moreover, AdValue Photonics is planning to provide whole machines for the glass drilling and process so that more companies can reap the benefits of laser tools. “We continually focus on optimizing the performance and reliability of fiber lasers for material processing and other applications,” concludes Jiang.