Diode laser fiber array for powder bed fabrication or repair

A method of forming a build in a powder bed, comprising:

• turning on selected diode lasers of a diode laser fiber array, the selected lasers of the diode laser fiber array corresponding to a desired pattern of a layer of the build;
• emitting a plurality of laser beams from fibers coupled to the selected diode lasers onto the powder bed, wherein the average output power of each diode laser is between about 2 W to about 60 W, the power density of each laser beam is about 1,000,000 W/cm2, the distance of ends of the fibers from the powder bed is between about 5 mm to about 150 mm, the energy distribution of each laser beam is Gaussian or a top hat;
• simultaneously melting powder in the powder bed corresponding to the desired pattern of the layer of the build, wherein the powder is metal, ceramic, glass or plastic;
• controlling at least one of a duration of each laser beam, a pulse energy of each diode laser, a pulse width of each diode laser, an average output power of each diode laser, an energy distribution of each laser beam, power density of each laser beam, a rate of reduction of the power of each laser beam, and/or a distance of ends of the fibers from the powder bed, wherein a thickness of each layer is between about 1 μm to about 1 mm;
• moving the selected selected diode lasers and the powder bed relative to each other;
• and
• simultaneously controlling the selected diode lasers during relative movement;
• turning off the selected diode lasers;
• and
• allowing the melted powder to cool and solidify.