Marshall G. Jones examines a sample of glass fiber

General Electric researchers have demonstrated that the intense beam of light from a stationary laser can be channeled through a needle-thin glass fiber to an industrial robot more than 25 yards away, enabling the machine to cut, weld, and drill with a dexterity never before possible.  Dr. Marshall G. Jones, manager of the General Electric Research and Development Center's Laser Technology Program, examines a sample of the glass fiber that delivers the laser energy to the workpiece. He devised a proprietary "input coupler" - an optical assembly that "downsizes" the three-quarter-inch-diameter laser beam to the 1000-micron (0.04 inch) size of the glass fiber within the cable. The results of GE's laser/robot research effort were detailed in Los Angeles yesterday at the International Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics., Credit Line: General Electric Research & Development Center, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection
Abstract/Description: General Electric researchers have demonstrated that the intense beam of light from a stationary laser can be channeled through a needle-thin glass fiber to an industrial robot more than 25 yards away, enabling the machine to cut, weld, and drill with a dexterity never before possible. Dr. Marshall G. Jones, manager of the General Electric Research and Development Center's Laser Technology Program, examines a sample of the glass fiber that delivers the laser energy to the workpiece. He devised a proprietary "input coupler" - an optical assembly that "downsizes" the three-quarter-inch-diameter laser beam to the 1000-micron (0.04 inch) size of the glass fiber within the cable. The results of GE's laser/robot research effort were detailed in Los Angeles yesterday at the International Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics.
Subject(s): Equipment and supplies
Lasers
Laboratories
Jones, M. G.
Date Created: November 1983
Credit Line: General Electric Research & Development Center, courtesy AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection
Catalog ID: Jones M G F1