At the outbreak of the fiber laser market, the localization of core components is at the right time

Introduction: The scale of China's fiber laser market is constantly expanding, the laser industry chain is becoming increasingly mature, and the market share of domestic lasers has significantly increased. The root cause of this is the increase in the proportion of core components domestically produced.

In the past decade or so, China's laser industry has ushered ingoldDevelopment period. Especially for mid stream fiber lasers, with strong support from national policies and R&D investment from related enterprises, domestic fiber laser brands have rapidly risen. According to《2021According to the "Development Report of China's Laser Industry" in[1]China's fiber laser market has grown from2014Of28.6Growing to 100 million yuan2020Of94.2RMB100mn According to a joint publication by the Wuhan Literature and Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Laser Journal, the Chinese Optical Society, and the Optoelectronics Industry Research Center《2022According to the latest research data from the China Laser Industry Development Report,2021The market size of fiber laser in China will break through in120RMB100mn

✦ The market share gap between domestic and foreign fiber laser brands is gradually narrowing✦

1960In, Theodore Mayman of the United States successfully manufactured the world's first ruby laser, and since then, various types of lasers have emerged one after another. Following closely behind, China was immediately led by Academician Wang Daheng1961The first ruby laser in China was manufactured in, laying the foundation for the rise of China's laser industry.1961Year,SnitzerThe world's first fiber laser was made using fiber as a gain medium.

In the field of fiber lasers, China started relatively late. stay2007Before the year, although domestic universities, research institutes, and other institutions conducted a large amount of research work in the field of fiber lasers and achieved many achievements, the industrialization and productization of domestic fiber lasers were still relatively blank. Before local enterprises broke through the core technology of lasers, laser technology had long been monopolized by foreign enterprises, directly leading to expensive laser equipment and limiting the expansion of laser applications.

At that time, there was a strong demand for laser equipment in the Chinese processing and manufacturing market, and foreign countriesIPG、COHERENT、SPIThe manufacturers represented by them are actively participating in the Chinese market, competing with Chinese manufacturers in the vast domestic processing and manufacturing market, and have always occupied the majority of the domestic market share. Until a group of domestic manufacturers such as Ruike Laser, Chuangxin Laser, and Jiepu Te emerged, continuously breaking through technological bottlenecks, relying on the advantages of the local market, and continuously seizing market share, the medium and low power segments have fully achieved domestic substitution, and are continuously achieving domestic substitution in the high-end market.

（1）The proportion of domestic brand market size is increasing year by year

surface1 2018-2020Table of Market Share Changes of Three Major Mainstream Fiber Laser Manufacturers in China's Sales Market in the Year

Cartography of Photonics Industry Research Center

2018In, the market share of European and American enterprises in China exceeded60%, of whichIPGNearly half of the domestic market share, accounting for over49%Stable ranking first, while Coherence and Ennai also occupy fourth and fifth positions respectively. But in recent years, with the rise of domestic fiber laser manufacturers, domestic substitution has continued to deepen.2020Year,IPGThe sales of foreign enterprises such as Ennai, Cohen, etc. in the Chinese market have experienced varying degrees of decline.IPGThe share of fiber lasers in China has increased from2019Of41.9%Further atrophy to2020Of34.6%。 Coherence has retreated from fifth place to sixth place, and market share has decreased to3.8%； Ennai's position remains unchanged, but sales have slightly decreased.

On the other hand, compared to domestic fiber laser brands, Ruike Laser has2018year17.3%The market share has increased to2020year24.4%Go straight afterIPG；2021The annual revenue has increased to34.1Billion yuan, almost equivalent toIPGChina's market share remains flat（IPG 2021The annual revenue of fiber lasers in the Chinese market is5.5100 million US dollars, equivalent to RMB34.8100 million yuan). Chuangxin Laser also comes from2018Annual Singles8.9%The share has increased to2020Of16.6%； In addition, such as Jet, Feibo Laser, KaiprinGWDomestic brands such as Guanghui and Hotspur Laser have also rapidly emerged, squeezing the market share of European and American brands. It can be seen that the localization level of fiber lasers is further deepening, and they can compete with European and American brands. estimate2022The sales share ranking of fiber lasers in China in may be shuffled.

（2）Domestic brands in the medium and low power fields have basically achieved substitution, and competition for high power has intensified

Due to the continuous improvement of the performance and efficiency of fiber lasers and the continuous efforts of domestic manufacturers,2017Years later, the power of fiber lasers has rapidly increased,2019The sales of domestic kilowatt level lasers have achieved a reverse trend. From the perspective of power, currently in the domestic market, medium and low power fiber lasers have fully achieved domestic substitution. and3 ~10 kWThe competition in the domestic market of the product segment is becoming increasingly fierce, and the main battlefield of price war is also shifting from1-3 kW Product segment, transferred to 6-10 kWIn the product segment, the 10000 watt level has become the focus of competition among various manufacturers, and the trend of domestic replacement of fiber lasers is gradually extending to the 10000 watt level.

surface2 2018-2021EShipment Status of Fiber Optic Lasers in China in (Unit: Unit)[1]

Image sourced from《2021Report on the Development of China's Laser Industry

In recent years, the upgrading of manufacturing industry, high-end manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, etc. have gradually become new directions of concern for the domestic laser industry. The application fields of laser technology are becoming more and more extensive, and the requirements for laser power are becoming higher and higher. In order to meet the needs of the high-end manufacturing application market, higher power and even ten thousand watt level fiber lasers have emerged.

At present, Ruike Laser, Chuangxin Laser, Feibo Laser, Guanghui Laser, Dake Laser and others have successively launched high-power fiber lasers of 10000 watts, while downstream equipment manufacturers such as Han's Laser, Pentium Laser, Hongshan Laser, Bond Laser and other enterprises have concentrated on launching them2Laser cutting equipment with a power of over 10000 watts has the potential to significantly replace foreign products with domestically produced high-power laser cutting equipment. Therefore,In the past two years6 ~10 kWThe shipment volume of domestic high-power fiber lasers in the power range has significantly increased.Ruike Laser2021According to the annual financial report, its 10000 watt laser2021Annual sales exceeding2380Taiwan, among which,6 kWSales of high-power lasers and above exceed5900Taiwan.

Compared to the past few years when core components have been restricted by imports, with the enhancement of capital strength and the improvement of independent research and development capabilities,10 kWThe shipment quantity of imported brands and domestic brands in the above power range is already comparable. This is mainly due to the breakthrough of domestic high-power core components, such as high-power fiber Bragg gratings, laser chips, etc., which have been replaced to varying degrees and have begun to catch up with foreign levels.

✦ Localization of core components for fiber lasers is timely✦

Below, we will mainly explore the core components of fiber lasers from the basic structure. Fiber lasers are mainly composed of components such as pump sources, combiners, fiber gratings, fibers, mode stripping devices, isolators (pulses), and laser output heads. chart1Schematic diagram of the composition of medium to high power (continuous) fiber lasers[2]。

chart1 Schematic diagram of the composition of medium and high power (continuous) fiber lasers[2]

（1）Pump source

The function of the pump source is to excite the laser working material, pumping the activated particles from the ground state to the high-energy level, in order to achieve particle number inversion. The pump source is one of the core components of lasers, mainly used for continuous fiber lasers and acoustooptic modulationQPulse fiber lasers, with semiconductor pump sources accounting for approximately a proportion of the total cost of fiber lasers50%, even higher.

The core components in the pump source include laser chips and slow axis collimators（SAC）Fast axis collimator（FAC）Polarization beam splitting/Combiner（PBS/PBC）Reflector（Mirror）Focusing lens（Focusing lens）Fiber optic head(FTA)Laser optical components. chart2Schematic diagram of pump source components. Each pump source requires the use of1Polarization beam splitting/Combiner and1Focusing lenses and1The number of fiber optic heads and laser chips used depends on the power of the pump source and the power of a single chip, and each laser chip needs to be compatible with1A slow axis collimator,1A fast axis collimator and1Use two mirrors together.

chart2 Schematic diagram of pump source components (drawn by the Optoelectronic Photonics Industry Research Center)

At present, Ruike Laser and Chuangxin have gradually achieved pump sources andCOSThe comprehensive independent packaging of chips, but there is still a certain gap between high-power laser chips and imported chips. The current power of pump sources in the market is100 W-400 WMainly focused on, and showing an increasingly high development trend. Ruike Laser350 W、370 W、500 WThe pump has achieved mass production, and currently the pump module can achieve the highest700-1000 WOutput of,95%EnergeticNAbe in0.17Within. Chuangxin Laser has already been in use2017It was achieved in the yearCOSChip self-made.

As the core component of the semiconductor pump source, the power and performance stability of laser chips directly affect the output laser performance. Laser chips, as a very weak link in the domestic laser industry chain, have long relied on imports for almost all of China's high-power laser chips, with relatively high import prices and technological lockdowns. U.S.ALumentumAnd II-VI. German companies such as Osram have the ability to manufacture high-power laser chips and can be exported, while the United States IPGGerman ExpressNlightThis type of chip can be manufactured but not sold externally. Domestic companies such as Changguang Huaxin, Dugen Laser, Juguang Technology, Kaiprin, and Huaguang Optoelectronics have independent design capabilities in chip packaging technology. At present, Ruike Laser mainly purchases chips and pump sources from Changguang Huaxin and Ruijing Laser Chip Company2022The annual estimated daily related party transaction plan shows that,2022Annual procurement amount reaches4RMB100mn Chuangxin Laser2017I also started researching single tube pump sources myself in the year.

According to the prospectus of Changguang Huaxin,2020The market size of laser chips in China's domestic market in5.29RMB100mn And according to《2021According to the "Development Report of China's Laser Industry" in[1]，2020Fiber laser in China in1-3 kWShipment scheduled38000Taiwan,3-6 kWShipment scheduled14000Taiwan,6-10 kWShipment scheduled2400Taiwan,10 kWThe above shipment is about1600Table1As shown in. According to the calculation of photoelectric sink,2020Approximately all fiber lasers in China were shipped in56000About194000k W）Expected2021The total annual shipment volume of fiber lasers will break through1010000 units (approximately309000k W）。According to the light to light conversion rate of commonly used pump sources in the market70%Left and right, approximately70%The industrial single chip power is20 W，30%Industrial single chip power is10 Wcalculation,2020The annual usage of industrial laser chips is approximately2000Ten thousand pieces, expected2021Annual usage is3190Ten thousand pieces.

Among the research and development teams engaged in laser chips in China, Changguang Huaxin is at the forefront,2021The total annual revenue has reached4.29100 million yuan, net profit realized1.15With a total of one billion yuan, its high-power semiconductor chips have a leading market share in the domestic market. At present, Changguang Huaxin has gradually achieved the localization of high-power, high reliability, high efficiency, and wide wavelength range single transistor chips, which can achieve mass production power of up to30 W, wavelength range coverage808-1064 nmThe electro-optical conversion efficiency reaches60%-65%The product technology level is synchronized with the advanced level of foreign countries, and downstream customers cover mainstream laser manufacturers in China such as Ruike Laser, Chuangxin Laser, Han's Laser, Feibo Laser, etc. Affected by the overall price decline in the industry chain and the competitive strategies of domestic and foreign manufacturers, chip prices are also showing a downward trend. Changguang Huaxin has been successfully listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and the localization of laser chips is a trend.

Optical components are also an important component of the pump source, and their damage threshold, coaxial accuracy, coating quality, etc. directly affect the output laser performance. The fast axis collimator is a non cylindrical micro lens with high technical difficulty, and only a few companies worldwide have mastered the processing technology. The main suppliers in the market areLimo、Fisba、SvetwheelHaichuang Optoelectronics, etc. A few years ago, the domestic product was completely dependent on imports, but with the acquisition of Juguang TechnologyLimoIndependently developed by Haichuang OptoelectronicsFACAfter the product, domesticFACDomestic substitution has been achieved, and the technology has also reached the international leading level. Slow axis collimating lens, reflector, polarization beam splitter/Other pump source optical components such as beam combiners, focusing lenses, coated optical fibers, etc. have been replaced domestically. Currently, the main suppliers include Haichuang Optoelectronics, Juguang TechnologyFisba、Ingeneric、II-VITengjing Technology, etc.IPGThe pump source optical components of fiber lasers are self-produced and not sold to the public.

（2）Fiber optic

Fiber optic is divided into active fiber and passive fiber, accounting for% of the total cost of fiber lasers10%。 Passive optical fibers connect the passive optical fibers of each part of the optical device through fusion to achieve laser transmission internally, without participating in wavelength conversion. Active fiber, also known as gain fiber, plays a role as a gain medium in fiber lasers, achieving energy conversion from pump light to signal light and amplifying pump light energy in the resonant cavity. In addition, as a special fiber used at a specific wavelength, special fiber is a key raw material in fiber lasers and also the most convenient transmission medium for laser transmission.

At present, the passive optical fiber products of domestic suppliers can basically meet production needs, with domestic suppliers such as Changfei and Shanghai Hanyu. In the field of laser special fiber, listed company Changfei has been2016We have been involved since the beginning of the year and have taken the lead in cooperating with Chuangxin Laser and Jiepute Optoelectronics. In the end2018At the end of the year, Changfei's products had the ability to replace imported special optical fibers and became the core supplier of Jept Optoelectronics and Chuangxin Laser.

since2019Since the beginning of this year, the domestic procurement volume of passive optical fibers by Chuangxin Laser has exceeded85%The procurement volume of domestic active optical fibers has exceeded40%。 Ruike Laser adopts a "self produced" approach for laser fibers+The way of walking on two legs through outsourcing.2017In, the company acquired the controlling shareholder of Aerospace Sanjiang Group, Ruixin Fiber, and began to purchase a large number of Ruixin Fiber to purchase special fiber products.2021In the first half of this year, Ruixin Fiber Optic achieved revenue1.68100 million yuan, net profit realized1.03RMB100mn

（3）Fiber Bragg Grating

The function of a resonant cavity is to screen photons in a certain direction and amplify them. The resonant cavity of a fiber laser is composed of a fiber grating, which is a diffraction grating formed by axially periodic modulation of the refractive index of the fiber core through certain methods. It can be simply understood as a reflection mirror existing in the fiber, which can determine the output wavelength and bandwidth of the laser, control the laser mode and output laser beam quality, and is one of the higher cost components of fiber laser outsourcing, Approximately accounting for% of the total cost of fiber lasers2%~5%。 Each laser requires a fiber grating2Only (i.e. a pair).

At present, low-power fiber gratings have been domestically produced and sold in the market. In terms of the core technology of medium and high power gratings used in fiber lasers, domestic suppliers such as Changfei and Optical Library Technology have also made certain breakthroughs, and laser manufacturers have also achieved self production. Ruike Laser2017I have purchased nearly2000A high-power grating worth 10000 yuan. According to Ruike Laser2018The annual report disclosed that the company has mastered key technologies of fiber Bragg grating through independent research and development and achieved large-scale production.2019 In, its high-power fiber laser used large mode field fiber Bragg gratings and special fibers successfully passed the expert acceptance organized by the Hubei Provincial Department of Science and Technology. And Chuangxin Laser2018Before the year, the main procurement was from abroad,2018year4Starting from this month, Chuangxin has achieved partial independent production of fiber grating devices. reach2019In the second quarter of this year, the self-made rate of Chuangxin laser fiber grating has reached 44.6%。 The fiber grating technology of Chuangxin Laser not only covers single-mode fiber gratings (core diameter)10 μm）Large core diameter multimode fiber gratings can also be produced（20 μm，25 μm, or even larger core diameter.

（4）Combiner

The combiner is a device formed by combining multiple optical fibers into a single fiber using molten tapered fiber bundle technology. It can combine multiple lower power lasers into a higher power laser. The combiner is mainly divided into pump combiner and power combiner, among which pump source combiner mainly accounts for half of the cost of the entire fiber laser components5%。

The pump combiner is a key device for achieving the output of high-power single module fiber lasers; Stable power combiner technology is the foundation of multimode laser beam combining output. Conquering the key technology of fiber optic combiners and developing high-efficiency and high-power fiber optic power combiners has become a key issue that urgently needs to be solved in the field of fiber optic lasers today, providing strong support for obtaining high-power fiber lasers.

At present, the main participants in the domestic beam combiner market include laser manufacturers such as Ruike Laser and Chuangxin Laser, as well as component manufacturers such as Optical Library Technology, Languang Technology, and Haichuang Optoelectronics, which have basically achieved domestic substitution.

（5）Laser output head

The laser output head can achieve long-distance flexible output of laser in the application site, thereby transmitting the output laser to the processing material

On material, complete laser processing applications. The internal structure of the laser output head is complex, requiring multiple functions such as transmission, heat dissipation, anti reflection, warning, etc. It has a high technical content and accounts for half of the total cost of the fiber laser3%。

The main function of fiber optic output devices is to expand the fiber bundle and reduce power density for use. Due to the high value of laser output heads and the high cost of outsourcing (about 10000 watts)5000About yuan, the kilowatt level is around2000Around Yuan, the main domestic laser manufacturers Ruike Laser and Chuangxin Laser have already masteredQBHAnd the collimator technology has basically achieved self production, and currently domestic manufacturersQBHThe parameters of the device are already comparable to those of foreign manufacturers.

（6）Isolator

Isolator is a kind of Passive optical device that only allows one-way light to pass through. Its working principle is to make use of Faraday effect of magneto-optical crystal, so that the reflected light can be well isolated by the isolator, and improve the optical wave transmission efficiency. Isolators allow light to pass through in one direction with low loss, while preventing light from passing in the opposite direction with high loss. It is placed on the emission path to avoid performance degradation caused by the laser under reflected light.

A few years ago, laser isolators were mainly composed ofEOTechnologyProduction by the company. At present, laser isolators in China have been mass-produced and replaced domestically. exceptIPGIn addition to self-produced and self used laser isolators, the laser isolator market used to be mainly dominated byEOTechnologyThe company occupies a dominant position, and as the competitiveness of domestic enterprises continues to strengthen,EOTechnologyGradually withdraw from the competition in the laser isolator market. Currently, the main players of isolators used for industrial lasers in the market are Fujing Technology, Guangku Technology, and Haichuang Optoelectronics, each accounting for approximately1/3The market share has formed a situation of "three parts of the world".

✦Small junction✦

Fiber laser has a series of core components such as pump source, fiber grating, combiner, isolator, etc. In the early years, the dependence on imports for core components led to high manufacturing costs for fiber lasers, which restricted the development of domestic enterprises.

In order to reduce the production cost of fiber lasers, domestic laser brands have achieved varying degrees of self-made core components. Ruike Laser has mastered key technologies and large-scale production capabilities for laser core components and materials, including pump sources, special fibers, fiber couplers, transmission optical cables, power combiners, fiber gratings, etc. Pump source, beam combiner, fiber grating, laser output head, stripper, isolator, Acousto-optic modulator, mode matching device, etc. of Chuangxin Laser90%All the core optical devices mentioned above have self-produced capabilities. In addition, Feibo Laser has also achieved some self-made components to varying degrees, conquering the research and development process of most passive optical devices. Kaiprin Optoelectronics has also achieved self production in fields such as pump sources, fiber Bragg gratings, combiners, and fiber optic connectors.

The optical device industry upstream of the domestic laser industry chain started relatively late, with immature technology and difficulty in meeting market demand for quality and stability. Prior to this, it relied on imported products, especially high-power core devices such as chips and fiber gratings. However, with the rise of domestic component brands in the past two years, multiple domestic device manufacturers have laid out their upstream industrial chains, such as Changguang Huaxin, Changfei Fiber Optics, Optics Technology, Haichuang Optoelectronics, Juguang Technology, Fujing Technology, Tengjing Technology, etc. They have mastered most of the device manufacturing technologies, and the high-power fiber laser industry chain has basically achieved import substitution, even for high-power laser chips (Changguang Huaxin) with higher technical difficulties High power fiber gratings (Changfei Fiber), fast axis collimators (Haichuang Optoelectronics), and other domestic suppliers have also been established, and the localization of core components is expected to further improve. However, it should also be noted that the domestic laser core component field is still relatively weak, especially in the laser chip field, which does not have the strength to comprehensively replace foreign products in terms of performance and stability. It is still in the initial stage, but the future is foreseeable.

reference

1《2021Report on the Development of China's Laser Industry.China Laser Magazine,Wuhan Document and Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences,Chinese Optical Society

2Analysis of fiber laser cost reduction.Guosheng Securities