What are the main types of laser welding machines?

Many buyers lose money when welds crack or warp. They slow the line, add grinding, and watch margins melt. I map the laser choices so they escape that trap and turn heat into steady profit.

The main types of laser welding machines—fiber, YAG, CO₂, hybrid, and process modes like keyhole or conduction—each solve a different production pain. Match beam physics to material limits, joint fit, and takt time to weld faster and cheaper.

Many guides list lasers without context. Engineers stay puzzled, and projects stall. I break the field into clear, workable groups, prove the split with a real project, and show you how to pick the tool that keeps your line moving.

What are the different types of laser welding?

Reject rates hurt confidence. Operators slow down, clamp harder, and costs rise. I name each welding mode and its sweet spot so teams regain control, cut scrap, and hit cycle time.

Fiber, YAG, CO₂, hybrid, keyhole, conduction, and deep-penetration welding differ in how they move heat. Each lets you balance penetration, speed, and distortion for your exact joint.

How the Energy Moves

I group the seven welding modes¹ by heat flow² instead of brand labels. That guides fixture design before a penny leaves the budget.

Welding Mode	Fusion Depth	Heat-Affected Zone	Ideal Thickness
Keyhole	High	Narrow	>3 mm
Conduction	Shallow	Wide	<1 mm
Deep-Penetration	Very high	Moderate	3–25 mm

Keyhole welds form a vapor cavity. Light bounces inside and digs deep, perfect for thick housings. Conduction spreads energy sideways; thin foils stay flat. Deep-penetration is a tuned keyhole that pushes power density even further for heavy plate.

Process Family Map

Family	Typical Power	Speed Window	Common Alloys
Fiber	500 W–6 kW	0.5–10 m/min	Al, SS, CS
Nd:YAG	20 W–500 W pulsed	0.1–2 m/min	Ti, medical SS
CO₂	1 kW–15 kW	0.3–5 m/min	CS, HSLA
Hybrid (Fiber + TIG)	2 kW laser + 150 A TIG	0.3–2 m/min	HS steels, mixed joints

Why It Matters

When I quote, I ask three questions: material, thickness, gap. Those answers pick the mode. A battery line welding 0.8 mm aluminum tabs runs conduction; a truck-frame weld at 9 mm uses deep keyhole³. The right choice cuts fixturing cost and training time.

How many types of laser machines are there?

Some teams buy one “laser box” to cut, mark, and weld. Soon they juggle optics swaps and unplanned downtime. I sort machines into four core families so buyers lock onto one asset per task and keep uptime high.

Kirin Laser builds four machine classes—welding, cutting, marking, and cleaning. Inside welding we offer seven process variants, giving buyers clarity instead of confusion.

Four Families, One Mission

Class	Core Goal	Power Band	Prime Option	Typical ROI
Welding4	Join parts	500 W–6 kW	Handheld or robotic	8–18 months
Cutting	Separate parts	1 kW–20 kW	Auto-focus head	12–24 months
Marking	Identify parts	20 W–100 W	3-axis scanner	6–12 months
Cleaning	Remove oxides	100 W–1 kW	Backpack unit	10–16 months

Inside the Welding Lineup

I further split welding machines by mobility and automation:

Platform	Description	Best Fit
Handheld	Gun-style head, 1.5 kW	Low-volume job shops
Semi-auto cell	3-axis table, 2 kW	Medium batch, 5 k – 25 k pcs/yr
Robotic cell5	6-axis robot, 3–6 kW	High mix or high volume

This hierarchy stops over-buying. A mezzanine railing fabricator starts with a handheld; an EV pack builder jumps to a dual-robot cell.

Hidden Cost Drivers

• Beam delivery: fiber cable vs. articulated arm
• Chiller load: each kW adds 3 kW cooling duty
• Safety class: NHV walls raise price 12–18 %

I show these early so no one is surprised at install.

What type of laser is used in welding machines?

Mixing sources without logic piles on scrap and downtime. I list the three core oscillators and link each to weld quality, so even a new buyer talks specs with confidence.

Fiber, solid-state Nd:YAG, and CO₂ are the big three welding sources. Fiber leads on efficiency, Nd:YAG rules pulse shaping, and CO₂ still wins when stand-off distance must be long.

Quick Source Scorecard

Source	Wavelength	Wall-Plug Efficiency6	Spot Size Range	Common Failure
Fiber	1070 nm	35 %	20–600 µm	Fiber breakage7
Nd:YAG	1064 nm	6 %	50–1500 µm	Lamp burn-out
CO₂	10.6 µm	10 %	200–5000 µm	Mirror pitting

Coupling vs. Reflection

Short wavelengths couple better with shiny alloys. Aluminum reflects 90 % of 10.6 µm light yet only 5 % of 1 µm. That is why fiber lasers pierce battery trays with little pre-heat, while CO₂ bounces off.

Duty Cycle and Pulse

Fiber can run 24 / 7 at full power. Nd:YAG pulses down to 10 µs, vital for medical tools and watch springs. CO₂ tubes handle macro welds but need longer ramp-up.

My Field Checklist

1. Material reflectivity? If high, pick fiber.
2. Required penetration? Over 8 mm may push to multi-mode or CO₂.
3. Gap size? Wider than 0.2 mm invites hybrid or Nd:YAG pulse shaping.

Following those three steps keeps bids short and success rates high.

Which laser is best for welding?

“Best” is a ratio of speed, quality, and cost. I saw that on an EV battery tray project that nearly failed. Let me show when fiber wins and when another source saves the day.

For most industrial welds a single-mode fiber laser is best: high power density, flexible delivery, and the lowest cost per watt. Multi-mode fiber, hybrid fiber-TIG, or pulsed Nd:YAG step in when gaps widen, alloys clash, or heat input must be ultra-low.

Battery Tray Rescue

The client welded 3-mm 6 xxx aluminum trays. MIG heat warped parts; reject rate hit 8 %. We installed a 1.5 kW fiber system⁸, scanned 300 µm spots, and ran 4 m/min. Heat-affected zone shrank to 0.4 mm. Zero rework. OEE rose 35 %⁹. Payback came in seven months.

Decision Matrix

Scenario	Top Pick	Heat Input	Gap Tolerance	Cost per kJ
Thin Al ≤2 mm	Single-mode fiber	Low	Tight (<0.1 mm)	\$0.07
Thick CS >8 mm	Multi-mode fiber or CO₂	High	Moderate	\$0.09
Dissimilar metals	Fiber-TIG hybrid	Medium	Wide (0.2 mm)	\$0.12
Medical micro-welds	Pulsed Nd:YAG	Ultra-low	Very tight	\$0.15

Trade-Off Grid

Metric	Fiber	Nd:YAG	CO₂
Capex	Mid	Low	High
Opex (kWh)	Low	High	Mid
Beam Flexibility	High	Mid	Low
Maintenance	Plug-in	Lamp change	Mirror clean

Wrap-Up Questions

I finish every spec review with: How deep is the weld? How tight is the joint? How reflective is the alloy? Those three answers pick the beam, lens, and motion. The line hits rate on day one, not month three.

Conclusion

Laser welding¹⁰ is a toolbox, not a single hammer. By pairing process modes—fiber, YAG, CO₂, hybrid, keyhole, conduction—with real production limits, I slash scrap and boost flow. My rule is simple: choose the source that meets depth and distortion targets at the lowest running cost. Kirin Laser builds each class, so you order once and weld right from the start, turning light into profit every shift.