Lasers were an technical innovation largely unproven for the bulk of industrial manufacturing requirements. While generating broad interest based on the potential benefits, they were regarded more as science experiments than reliable process equipment. Considerable work was still needed to understand how to configure and operate lasers to meet specific application requirements.

Laser technology had shown plenty of promise for material processing but with a limited set of applications based on existing performance. Significant growth would require additional capability to address a wider range of potential applications.

A software feature was added to operate the laser in a manner that normally would have been regarded as undesirable from a laser performance point of view. However, this is a classic example of a technical focus and not on the potential to address a market opportunity with a different mode of operation. The initial comments from resident PhDs and laser experts ranged from “You can’t do that.” to “Why would you want to do that?” It worked anyway.

The method enabled a much broader range of control over the laser output and the corresponding thermal interactions with the material being processed. At the time, the decision was made to postpone the patent application for budget reasons. A major Japanese company eventually came up with a similar observation 6 years later and patented it.