Laser Discussion Group

 MOPA Fiber Laser cleaning of glazed ceramic tiles

Joris Nagtegaal's profile image
Joris Nagtegaal posted 03-24-2026 08:19

Hello all,

I am a post-master student Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage with the specialisation Glass and Ceramics at the University of Amsterdam. For a research paper I am intending to research the effect of laser cleaning on the glaze of white tiles. I was planning on using either a QS or LQS Nd:YAG laser for this research, but I am struggling in finding a laser I could use. I now have the possibility to perform this research using a MOPA Fiber Laser from JPT, however, I never really heard about any research done on this laser related to the cleaning of cultural heritage. 

Does anyone in this group perhaps know of research into this type of laser for the cleaning of cultural heritage or does anyone have any experience in using one?

Thank you very much in advance!

Joris Nagtegaal

Martin Cooper's profile image
Martin Cooper

Hi Joris,

Sounds like an interesting research project. I am aware of many successful projects carried out using QS Nd:YAG lasers to remove unwanted surface deposits from terracotta - as always, care is needed but assuming initial testing is carried out and a safe fluence used then the cleaning process can be extremely sensitive. I am aware of research carried out at Tokyo National Museum last year investigating the effectiveness of laser cleaning (QS Nd:YAG) on ancient unglazed ceramic roof tiles. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any research carried out using active fibre lasers on glazed ceramics - I guess this could be a good thing for your research! You could try contacting the El.En. Light for Art group in Italy as they supply fibre lasers to the heritage field and have excellent links with many research groups, particularly in Italy. It might also be worth contacting G.C.Lasers in Chicago who have been working with high frequency solid-state lasers for many years.

Good luck with your research and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Maybe you could update the LDG on your research findings in a year or so - we'd be very interested to hear how you get on.

Regards,

Martin