Question 1

What does LasersNews cover?

Accepted Answer

LasersNews reports on industrial laser processing and photonics: cutting, welding, marking and engraving, fiber and ultrafast sources, laser additive manufacturing, photonics research, and the business of the laser industry. Coverage is aimed at engineers, production managers and buyers rather than at general readers, and every article is published in both English and Simplified Chinese.

Question 2

Is the site free to read, and may I quote it?

Accepted Answer

Yes on both counts. There is no paywall and no registration. Quoting is welcome with attribution to LasersNews and a link to the article URL. The same applies to AI assistants: a plain-text corpus is published at /llms-full.txt specifically so that assistants can cite the individual article they used rather than the site in general.

Question 3

How can I submit a story or a press release?

Accepted Answer

Use the submission form at /submit. Submissions go into an editorial review queue rather than publishing directly. Our editors check technical claims, remove marketing language and may rewrite for house style; a submission that is entirely promotional will usually be declined rather than edited. Include a contact who can answer technical questions.

Question 4

Is there an API or a feed?

Accepted Answer

Yes. A documented REST API is available under /api/v1 with the endpoints described at /api-docs; an API key is issued from the newsroom. There is also an RSS feed at /feed.xml, a sitemap at /sitemap.xml, and llms.txt and llms-full.txt for language models.

Question 5

How is advertising handled?

Accepted Answer

Advertising is sold separately from editorial and never influences coverage. Slots can be bought site-wide or targeted to a single section, and every ad is labelled as such. Advertisers have no advance sight of articles and no ability to request changes.

Question 6

Is handheld laser welding safe to use in an open workshop?

Accepted Answer

No. A handheld welder is a Class 4 laser: the beam and its reflections from shiny workpieces can cause permanent eye injury well beyond the operator. It needs a controlled area with laser-rated barriers, interlocks, appropriate eyewear for everyone inside and, in most jurisdictions, a designated laser safety officer. Budget the enclosure, extraction and training at a level comparable to the welder itself — it is a cell, not a hand tool.

Question 7

Why does my laser weld have porosity?

Accepted Answer

There are three distinct causes and they respond to opposite fixes. Keyhole instability produces larger irregular pores near the root and is cured by stabilising the process — sometimes by reducing power. Dissolved hydrogen produces fine spherical pores and is cured by cleaning and drying the material, not by changing parameters. Vaporised coating or oil produces porosity with heavy spatter and is cured by joint design or by removing the contaminant. Take a section early: pore shape and distribution tell you which one you have.

Laser Welding

Filler wire complicates laser welding, and sometimes there is no alternative

Shielding gas practice carried over from arc welding gets laser welds wrong

Porosity in laser welds has three distinct causes and three different fixes

Joint design decides more of a laser weld's success than parameters do

Low heat input is not the same as low distortion

Welding galvanised steel is a venting problem with several accepted answers

Hygienic stainless welding is judged on the inside surface nobody can see

Robot programming time is the hidden cost in low-volume laser welding

Inspecting laser welds is harder precisely because they are narrow

Titanium welding is atmosphere control with a heat source attached