By Finlay Colville, Director of Solar Marketing, Coherent, Inc
Laser-based tools have become increasingly visible within R&D labs, pilot production lines, and as the preferred technology used by many turnkey suppliers. As equipment types however, relatively little is known about the differences in the laser-based tools used for solar applications within each of the c-Si and thin-film segments. This paper explains the key components of a laser-based tool, and how they are adapting to meet the demands from next-generation production line equipment required by the solar industry.