Market Report | Global Laser Cleaning Market Size will Grow to US$1.02 Billion by 2030

              In 2025, the global laser cleaning market is expected to reach US$780 million, and is projected to grow to US$1.02 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.51%. This growth is driven by multiple factors, including: strict restrictions on the use of chemical solvents in Europe and North America, the continuous decline in the unit power cost of fiber lasers in Asia, and the increasing demand for non-contact surface treatment in industries such as automotive, aerospace, and semiconductor manufacturing. The rapid integration of laser cleaning with robotics technology is reshaping traditional production line layouts, while the application of ultra-short pulse technology is expanding into high-precision scenarios such as microelectronics processing and cultural heritage restoration. Although declining component prices are driving down capital expenditures, the cost of high-power systems remains prohibitively high in some developing regions.

Trends and Insights of the Global Laser Cleaning Market

• Stricter Environmental Regulations Accelerate the Replacement of Chemical Cleaning Methods

In December 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officially approved restrictive regulations on perchloroethylene, banning its application in most industrial situations, which expedited the industry’s transition from traditional chemical cleaning to laser cleaning. In January 2025, relevant regulations targeting other hazardous air pollutants further increased compliance pressures on the industry. In contrast, laser cleaning technology generates no secondary waste, significantly reducing costs and burdens associated with waste disposal and supervision for solvent-reliant enterprises. Driven by this policy environment, the payback period for investments in laser equipment has been substantially shortened, strongly boosting market growth. Major suppliers are also actively adjusting their product solutions to align with government subsidy programs, promoting the upgrades of low-emission equipment.

• Automation Demand Drives the Widespread Adoption of Non-Contact Surface Treatment

Currently, numerous high-capacity factories are integrating fiber lasers with collaborative robots to reduce manual labor hours and ensure consistent surface treatment quality. For instance, IPG Photonics launched the LightWELD robot unit in May 2024, which provides a plug-and-play solution. Users can switch between laser welding and cleaning functions with just a touch of the screen. Automotive body repair shops also use similar equipment to clean seams before welding aluminum body panels. Automation not only alleviates the shortage of skilled workers but also enables efficient operations with “one person, multiple workstations.” This advantage is driving the rapid growth of the robotic laser work cell market, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) projected to reach 14.6%, far exceeding the overall laser cleaning market. To expand application scope and lower operational barriers, suppliers are accelerating the integration of visual recognition and artificial intelligence algorithms into equipment to enable automatic parameter adjustment and reduce training costs.

• Sustained Growth in Cultural Relics Restoration Applications

In Europe and Asia, an increasing number of cultural relics conservation laboratories are adopting laser technology to precisely remove soot, biofilms, and coatings from the surfaces of sculptures and murals, while avoiding damage to the original substrates. The EU-funded “Lasering-ph” project (2023–2026) is specifically researching the optimization of femtosecond laser parameters for cave painting restoration. Field test results on silk textiles and ancient manuscripts have demonstrated that femtosecond lasers generate the minimal thermal damage to fibers, it prompting several museums in Italy, Greece, and Japan to increase their procurement budgets for portable laser equipment. Given that such restoration projects largely rely on government funding, purchasers prioritize equipment precision and low thermal input performance, resulting in high price tags for ultrashort pulse systems. To meet the special demands of cultural relics restoration, laser OEM manufacturers are actively developing low-power femtosecond laser heads with interchangeable optical components specifically designed for handling fragile materials.

• Electric Vehicle Battery Production Lines Impose Higher Requirements on Residue-Free Electrode Cleaning

As Giga factories continue to expand production, the cleanliness of electrode surfaces has become a critical factor for determining battery performance. Laser ablation technology can remove burrs and adhesive residues without chemicals, thereby shorten drying times and significantly reducing water consumption. Relevant research conducted by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 2024 confirmed that this process can enhance the micro-structure and overall performance of nickel-rich cathodes. Currently, many battery manufacturers in Asia have integrated laser cleaning stations with key process equipment such as coating and calendering, creating a high-capacity niche market and further driving rapid growth in demand for laser cleaning in China, South Korea, and Europe. Additionally, the incentive policies for sustainable battery manufacturing introduced by governments in many countries have also provided strong support for the widespread adoption of this technology.

Fig. Schematic diagram of laser ablation principle

• Developing Markets Face High Capital Expenditure Barriers

High-power lasers above 1kW typically cost between $300,000 and $500,000, it imposing significant financial strain on small & medium-sized manufacturers, and leading to frequent order delays in countries such as Indonesia, Brazil, and Kenya. Although the declining prices of laser diodes have effectively reduced the total cost of ownership for equipment, financing options remain limited. The emerging laser equipment leasing model offers customers new alternatives, but high interest rates have increased the overall expenditure burden to some extent. While some countries provide green equipment tax credits to enhance purchasing capability, the widespread of such policies outside the core industrial zones remains slow. Therefore, while laser cleaning technology hasn’t achieve widespread accessibility, many emerging markets still rely on traditional heavy-duty cleaning methods like sandblasting, which limits the enhancement of penetration rate in the laser cleaning markets.

• The Application of Remote Scenarios is Limited by Challenges in Equipment Deployment.

Remote application scenarios such as offshore energy facilities and long-distance pipelines impose higher demands on equipment, urgently requiring compact and rugged tools that can withstand vibrations, salt spray, and unstable power supplies. However, current high-power laser equipment still tends to be heavy in size and has stringent requirements for power supply stability, making it difficult to be flexibly deployed on platforms with limited space. Some companies have attempted to modularize encapsulate lasers and generators within containers, but the complexity of transportation and on-site assembly often leaves maintenance personnel had to rely on sandblasting for emergency repairs. Currently, research and development on medium-power battery-powered lasers and remote fiber-optic transmission heads are accelerating, aiming to narrow this application gap. Nevertheless, commercialization is expected to remain elusive before 2027. Until then, the lack of portability will continue to restrict the short-term widespread adoption of laser cleaning technology in remote and field scenarios.

Market Segmentation Analysis

• Segmentation by Laser Type: Widespread Expansion of Application Scenarios for Fiber Lasers

In 2024, fiber lasers accounted for 58% of the revenue share in the laser cleaning market. This is primarily attributed to the 40% electro-optical conversion efficiency achieved through internal diode coupling, as well as the sealed optical path structure, which provides anti-contamination capabilities. These features enable the lasers for continuous operation for up to 50,000 hours without the need for recalibration. In China, 300-watt lasers are widely employed for mold maintenance, while in Germany, electric vehicle factories deploy 3-kilowatt laser heads for axle descaling, demonstrating flexible adaptability across various power levels. With diode prices dropping below $10 per watt, small and medium-sized users such as textile machinery refurbishers in Vietnam have also joined the procurement ranks, further expanding the global market coverage of laser cleaning.

Fig. Laser mold cleaning

The ultrashort-pulse laser market has achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.6%. Its “cold ablation” technology enables the removal of 20-nanometer oxide layer from silicon wafer surfaces while preventing melting of the underlying substrate material. Suppliers have now introduced a 50-watt femtosecond laser for watch movement repair and a 100-watt picosecond laser for high-density interconnect board processing, signaling the technology’s expansion from research laboratories to large-scale mass production scenarios. While solid-state lasers and CO₂ lasers hold smaller market shares, they still have application advantages in specific fields. For instance, stone engraving and cleaning leverage their excellent coupling with carbonate substrates, whereas plastic processing relies on the 10.6-micron wavelength of CO₂ lasers to prevent overheating of metallic substrates.

Fig. Product market share by laser type (Photo Credit. Mordor Intelligence)

• Segmentation by Power Range: Medium-Power Products Reach a Balance between Cost and Production Capacity

Medium-power laser (100W to 1kW) accounted for 46% of the market in 2024, widely adopted in processes such as rust removal from automotive subframes while remaining compatible with standard factory power systems. In terms of removal speed of the oxide scale, leading suppliers report that 500W handheld laser lances achieve 60% faster compared with 120-grit sandpaper, and there is also no need for consumable materials. This balance between production capacity and cost enhances customers’ retention, sustaining the market resilience even amid tightening budgets.

With the pursuit of higher descaling efficiency in shipyards and railway maintenance facilities, the market of the high-power lasers (above 1kW) has achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1%. For instance, Australia’s Precision Laser Cleaning demonstrated its capability to remove antifouling coatings at a rate of 20m²/hour, significantly reducing ship dry-docking time and fuel costs. Gold Mark’s 3kW “4-in-1” platform integrates welding, cleaning, cutting, and surface texturing functions, enabling manufacturers to replace multiple specialized machines with a single multifunctional equipment. Low-power lasers (<100W) cater to jewelry processing and historical document restoration, offering precise removal of submicron contaminants while prioritizing thermal sensitivity over processing speed.

• Segmentation by Portability: Handheld Lasers Dominate Flexible Maintenance

Handheld laser equipment accounted for 62% of market revenue in 2024. These tools enable access to confined spaces such as wheel wells, turbine casings, and riveted joints without requiring component disassembly. The latest CleanTech portable series features onboard process monitoring and bluetooth diagnostics, which can effectively minimize setup errors and enhance operational efficiency. Service contractors increasingly lease 1kW battery-assisted laser guns for on-site rust removal from wind turbine towers, which fully demonstrates the appeal of portability to the laser cleaning service market.

The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of robots and automated cleaning units has reached 7.9%, primarily driven by the demand from automotive paint shops in Slovakia and electronics housing production lines in Thailand. The modular units developed by Laserax are compatible with six-axis or SCARA robots, and feature rapid automatic focusing calibration capabilities, significantly enhancing production line efficiency. Meanwhile, benchtop workstations meet the needs in laboratories and precision manufacturing sectors where repetitive tasks are prioritized over cycle speed. These workstations are typically equipped with vibration isolation platforms and HEPA (High-Efficiency Particulate Air) filters to remove submicron-sized residues.

• Segmentation by Pulse Duration: Nanosecond Pulses Remain the Mainstream in the Market

Nanosecond pulse technology accounted for 69% of market sales in 2024, widely favored for its balanced advantage between shockwave peeling and controllable heat input. For instance, a car modification company in Mexico employed a 200-watt nanosecond laser spray gun for surface pretreatment of steel frames before coating, achieving a significantly lower rework rate compared with traditional sandblasting methods. The widespread use of standardized components has also fostered price competition, enhancing overall market accessibility.

As the price of 100-watt femtosecond laser drops below $120,000, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of ultrashort pulse equipment has reached 8.4%, primarily targeting semiconductor wafer fabs and capillary manufacturers with stringent requirements for “zero heat-affected zone”. Leading OEMs are driving the development of femtosecond laser prototypes with 500-watt average power, aimed at applications such as display glass edge finishing. This potential breakthrough is expected to combine high-precision machining with high-volume production capacity. On the other hand, continuous-wave equipment remains suitable for thick coating treatments (e.g., asphalt or epoxy), where energy penetration outperforms pulse impact in such applications.

Fig. Market share of products classified by pulse duration (Photo Credit. Mordor Intelligence)

• Segmentation by Application: Paint Removal and Cleaning as the Most Widespread Scenario

Coating removal and paint removal accounted for 34% of the laser cleaning market in 2024, primarily concentrated on automotive body repair, aircraft MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul), and heavy equipment refurbishment. The laser beam can rapidly vaporize polymer coatings without the use of dichloromethane strippers, complying with environmental regulations. Case studies on composite bumper cleaning demonstrate that the treated surfaces are smooth and require no secondary polishing after cleaning, resulting in significant labor cost savings for auto body repair shops.

As line widths of the chip shrink to below 20 nanometers, the precision requirements for microelectronics cleaning have surged significantly, with an expected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%. The BlackStar wafer cutting equipment, launched in 2024, has integrated residue-free edge cleaning functionality to effectively control particle contamination during the cutting process. Applications such as rust removal, pretreatment, mold cleaning, cultural relic restoration, and nuclear facility decontamination also have well-defined user bases, contributing to market diversity and mitigating the overall risk of laser cleaning amid cyclical fluctuations in any single industry.

• Segmentation by End-Users: The Automotive Industry Maintains Robust Shipments

The automotive and transportation sector accounted for 27% of total sales in the laser cleaning market in 2024, encompassing applications such as the removal of electrophoretic coatings from chassis weld areas and the refurbishment of railway vehicle bogies. Laser stripping tests on white composite paints have demonstrated that a single treatment results in a smooth metal substrate surface that meets OEM remanufacturing standards. With the introduction of battery tray cleaning processes in electric vehicle platforms, shipments in this industry have further increased.

Driven by the rapid development of advanced packaging and micro-sensors, the electronic and semiconductor industries have achieved a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.7%. There is a rising demand among wafer fabs for integrating laser cleaning modules, particularly in online processing such as flux removal, surface texturing, and serial marking. Other industries, including aerospace, shipbuilding, infrastructure, energy, and cultural institutions, also provide stable support, collectively valuing the comprehensive advantages of laser technology in terms of high precision, low material consumption, and environmental compliance.

Regional Analysis

The Asia-Pacific region accounted for 41% of revenue share in the 2024 laser cleaning market, reflecting the high concentration of electronic industry clusters and automotive supply chains in China, Japan, and South Korea. Local governments across multiple countries have rolled out incentive policies for high-tech manufacturing, making capital expenditures on laser equipment more rationalized. As diode prices continue to decline, small and medium-sized manufacturers in the region are gradually adopting 300-watt fiber lasers for routine maintenance and surface treatment. For instance, MOL pilot project of infrared laser rust removal system demonstrates the growing demand for environmentally friendly ship maintenance technologies aligned with clean energy initiatives.

Europe follows closely, actively adopting laser cleaning technology in the fields of sustainable manufacturing and cultural heritage preservation. Due to increasingly stringent EU restrictions on the use of organic solvents, this technology has emerged as a compliant alternative. The “net-zero emissions” industrial policy provides financial support for upgrading industrial facilities, while cultural institutions deploy femtosecond lasers for non-contact restoration of delicate cultural relics such as murals and sculptures. The roll-to-roll laser drying process demonstrated by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) through its “IDEEL” project has been integrated into the electrode cleaning stage of next-generation battery production lines, enhancing green manufacturing standards.

North America has fully leveraged its technological advantanges in high-end manufacturing sectors such as aerospace, defense, and nuclear energy. Research and development funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has driven the application of laser cleaning in critical tasks, including the removal of oxide scales from turbine blades and the decontamination of nuclear reactor vessels. Meanwhile, the Mexican states of Nuevo León and Guanajuato have also leveraged their automotive manufacturing clusters to invest in and deploy 300-watt handheld laser equipment for upgrading welding fixtures and maintaining molds. Overall, the North American market demonstrates steady performance, high technological maturity, and diversified application scenarios.

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