Challenge to advanced materials processing with lasers in Japan

Abstract

Japan is one of the most advanced countries in manufacturing technology, and lasers have been playing an important role for advancement of manufacturing technology in a variety of industrial fields. Contribution of laser materials processing to Japanese industry is significant for both macroprocessing and microprocessing. The present paper describes recent trend and topics of industrial applications in terms of the hardware and the software to show how Japanese industry challenges to advanced materials processing using lasers, and national products related to laser materials processing are also briefly introduced.