Industrial applications of diode laser heaters

Laser heating is a sustainable and cost-effective industrial solution whose impact promises to grow as $/Joule cost of diode lasers continues to fall. Lasers provide best-in-class energy density enabling fast heating and drying in a “cold” oven. We share experiments and models covering the heating of silicon wafers, curing industrial coatings and bulk drying of foodstuffs. Our findings substantiate capital and operational expenditure benefits when drying or curing coatings or heating silicon wafers. On the other hand, bulk drying and higher temperature processes are challenged by physics and current laser heating economics.