Laser Soldering Iron

[Cyparagon]

With a high power CO2 laser like the one in the video...

Why are you so convinced it's a CO2 laser?

 

[ShortyInCanada]

The energy absorbed has a direct correlation to the reflectivity of the surface. While you may think of solder to be reflective it is actually very dull. And a medium grey dull surface should absorb almost all frequencies of light quite well. (As grey is just a lighter version of black which is the color that absorbs all light the best.)
As far as touching the bottom of a spoon with a laser heating the other side...you will detect some heat. Depending on the lustre of the metal, the imperfections at the focal point, micro pitting, corrosion, etc. the spoon will heat up. The thickness of the metal and the kind of metal alloy affecting the conduction of the heat throughout will factor in. If you start with your finger touching it or wait for a bit before touching it will also add to the conduction/removal of heat too. With a good diode laser pointing at a spoon for 30 seconds I am not sure I would touch it...I can't stand the smell of burning flesh. Especially MINE ! Ouch. Ow. oo oo
(30 years ago I once "soldered" my finger to a couple of wires & a resistor. I'm not so willing to cook myself into anything anymore though. It takes a LOT longer to heal. )

 

[LASER66]

Saw video (posted by LaZeRz) of soldering: from CoherentInc, likely the largest laser manufacturer in the world. Lasers are used for a variety of metal cutting, soldering, heat treating. Likely the Coherent system is a high powered IR diode bar laser. They don't make Co2's as far as I know.

 

[shintashi]

we just watched a video of melting solder with a 4W argon...
Killer 4W Argon Ion Laser! - YouTube

So I think if you are somewhere between 1W and 10W, you are in the 'melting solder" zone, you only have to get it to like 600 degrees. If you started by heating up some black metal surface, you might be able to do it, but I think you would have to worry about the size of your dot (ala green/red) or bar (blue). I also agree with the inefficiency in overheating your diode, but if for some reason, that's not an issue, then sure, why not?

 

[ShortyInCanada]

Actually the temperature for soldering is : "Alloys that melt between 180 and 190 °C (360 and 370 °F) are the most commonly used."
Hotter temperatures are not recommended for electronics and come under the category of "brazing".
I think that many more lasers are capable of ataining the lower temperatures, even if only in a very small spot. And once you get it started that melted solder will quickly start to melt the solder next to it without much more heat applied. It might turn out to be a lot easier than anticipated.
But it still wouldn't necessarily be effective ! Maybe in a pinch your pocket laser could temporarily reconnect a loose small gauge wire to a PC board but Not likely more than that.

 

[HIMNL9]

Why are you so convinced it's a CO2 laser?

For the "white" reflection in the video (that is usually as cameras "see" the effect of a CO2 laser, that is invisible, on vaporized materials, like fluxant there), and for the speed of melting of the solder ..... not speaking the fact that the laser hit the soldering points 2 times for half second, and if it was something different, including standard IR lasers, the second time that the beam hit the melted solder (that, when melted, is very reflective), there must be much more reflected light, instead the second shot have almost the same reflection of the first one ..... usually also melted materials adsorb 10600nm good, where instead other lower frequencies must be scattered and reflected much more than that.

Also, i worked for a pair of years with a 2KW cutting system, and that is very similar to that what a CO2 beam do.

Ofcourse, without know for sure the source of the laser in the video, we cannot be 100% sure, it's just as it looks for me.

 

[123splat]

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