a laser manufacturer
can be established by a
single attribute.
Cutting-edge.
Unwilling to settle for anything less than the duces world-class lasers and automated systems to
optimal fiber laser source, AMADA became the first meet the distinct needs of North American fabricators.
manufacturer to develop its own fiber laser specifically As the global leader in the engineering and
engineered for cutting. From its state-of-the-art Laser manufacturing of advanced metalworking equipment
Manufacturing Facility in Brea, CA, AMADA also pro- and automated systems, no other company is better
equipped to provide you with the ideal laser cutting
solution for your specific needs. If compromise is not
Fiber Laser Cutting Systems an option for you, contact AMADA today to resolve the
CO2 Laser Cutting Systems challenges you face.
Full Range from 2kW - 9kW
Punch/Fiber Laser Combinations
Punch/CO2 Laser Combinations
Rotary Index Systems with both Flat and
Tube Cutting Capabilities
Modular Automation Systems that easily
AMADA AMERICA, INC.
transition from a single cycle loader to a 180 Amada Court Schaumburg, IL 60173 877-262-3287
multi-shelf tower system that supports www.amada.com/america
multiple lasers
Cladding the
large ones
Laser peening
Quality
microfabrication
UV laser drilling
Motion control
Ultrafast
micromachining
M AY \
J U N E 2 0 17
Laser cladding
refurbishes a 20-ton
P.
8 technology report
8
The cutting edge of laser
cladding technology
Deposition process redesigns high-wear 25 application report
21 technology report
Departments
Nano to pico to femto: Pulse
2 Update
widths for optimal laser
31 C a l e n d a r
micromachining outcomes
Choice of pulse width has high impact on 31 A d I n d e x
quality, throughput, and cost R AJESH PATEL, 32 My View
JIM BOVATSEK, AND HERMAN CHUI
Industrial laser sales continue to
outpace machine tools
W W W. I N D U S T R I A L- L A S E R S . C O M
DABbling
A blog by DAVID A. BELFORTE
David shares his insights and opinions on current
activities affecting industrial laser materials processing.
www.industrial-lasers.com/dabbling.html
S
on the substrate and overlay.
ince its establishment in 1993 (initially as HVOF Australia Our method enables the laser deposi-
Pty Ltd), LaserBond has concentrated on research, tion of metallic or metal matrix composite
development, and implementation of advanced sur- (MMC) layers with a full metallurgical bond
face-engineering techniques to dramatically reduce by utilizing an accurately focused, infinitely
the wear rates, maintenance, and operating costs controllable, high-power laser beam sup-
of production-vital components. It manufactures, ported in a multi-axis robot and integrated
repairs, reclaims, and enhances the performance of with a separate multi-axis workpiece plat-
high-wear-critical metal components in a range of capital-intensive industries form that enables precise control of heat
particularly mining, where equipment constantly operates in a variety of highly transfer into base material and the depos-
abrasive and uncommon wear conditions. ited layer, Hooper explains. Our integration
With a staff of 60, the company serves a variety of industries in addition to enables the repair of temperature-sensitive
mining, including metal refining and smelting; power generation; road and rail components and materials, such as hard-
transport; aerospace and gas turbines; shipping; valves and fluid handling; and ened shafts and gears, with minimal risk of
oilfield drilling and exploration. distortion or other undesirable heat effects
that undermine the integrity of the compo-
nent or in-service performance. This method
enables the deposition of MMC overlays with
significantly smaller hard-phase particles,
with minimal heat effects. The concentration
of hard phases can be significantly increased
and dramatically improved distribution
achieved with the new method. Therefore,
the mean free path between the WC (tung-
sten carbide) particles is smaller and wear
resistance is considerably improved.
Synchrotron images (FIGURES 1 and 2)
illustrate the results of this deposition tech-
nology that has created opportunities for
redesigning high-wear components. The key
advantages offered over other methods are:
High deposition rates;
Extremely low dilution with base mate-
rial, enabling very thin layers;
Almost nonexistent heat-affected zones,
Laser cladding eliminating the effect on structural per-
refurbishes formance of substrates; and
a 20-ton Negligible distortion, enabling cladding
gyratory cone of dimensionally sensitive components.
crusher and A unique feature of LaserBond is its sci-
shaft. entific approach and understanding of the
bonding mechanics and resultant metallurgy
own multi-axis workpiece positioning system, with capacities for already have a collaborative R&D agreement for development of
up to 20-ton components (FRONTIS, PAGE 8) with a swing up to technology, systems, processes, and applications associated with
2 and 9m in length. wear-resistant, surface-engineered cladding for resource, agricul-
Executive director Wayne Hooper describes the proprietary pow- tural, and other heavy industries.
der injection nozzle system: Cladding large mining industry com- LaserBond has signed a technology licensing contract with a large
ponents requires extended running times at high power levels, with minerals-processing equipment manufacturing and repair company
some projects running 16 hours at maximum power. This require- in Asia, which initially involves design, building, installation, and com-
ment led us into developing our own water-cooled, off-axis pow- missioning of a laser cladding cell tailored to the companys specific
der injection nozzle. This incorporates a rapidly replaceable pow- applications. We have chosen a company that has demonstrated
der injection tube and gas depressurized gravity-fed powder mixer. ability to partner with international technology companies, and which
The geometry of the part being processed determines parameter has a large presence in its mining equipment market, Wayne Hooper
settings for the nozzle. This led us to invest in our own control sys- says. The contract demonstrates the significant value in the tech-
tem development. nology and intellectual property that LaserBond has developed. We
are aiming to make this agreement the first of many.
Achievements As mentioned above, LaserBonds new DTH Hammer lasted
LaserBond has been awarded a $2.6 million government grant for more than three times longer than the industry standards that it
wear-life extension via surface-engineered laser cladding for mining was competing with at a comparative trial in Southern Australia.
projects. The LaserBond-led project, which involves UniSA and global Under sole control of Brisbane-based mining consultancy Xtega
drilling equipment manufacturer Boart Longyear as project partners, Pty Ltd., this independent comparative trial was held at a hard-
received funding to support the three-year collaboration associated rock metalliferous mine, selected for its highly abrasive rock with
with the material science and use of its technologies to improve a an indicated megapascal (MPa) between 90 and 200. There is an
spectrum of wear points, many associated with drilling for mining. irrefutable decrease in the rate of abrasive wear, which results in a
Coincidentally, LaserBond and Boart Longyear recently signed 305% increase in the life of the LaserBond hammer, Xtega con-
a non-binding strategic partnership to pursue mutually benefi- cludes. Other benefits included improved mechanical availability
cial commercial products and services. UniSA and LaserBond and efficiency; higher impact and penetration rates; improved site
and operator safety; and less downtime for changeouts, along with
significant 7.5% cost savings.
An underground coal shearer reports 10X longer wear-life with
LaserBonds laser cladding technology added to an off the shelf
component. Without our attention, these units only last 4060
hours of operation before the hard rock inclusions wear through
into the water cooling system and render the unit useless. Now,
our customer is looking to save millions, Greg Hooper explains,
after inspecting onsite performance.
Thales Lasers.
Innovation for industry.
Wherever safety and security matter, we deliver
UNRIVALLED SCALABILITY
Benet from our worldwide organisation,
support and delivery capabilities
AN UNPRECEDENTED PORTFOLIO
Meet your needs with a wide
range of laser products HIGH-PERFORMANCE LASERS
Satisfy increasing customer demand
for robust, reliable systems 24/7
Search: Thalesgroup
JEFF DULANEY
Laser
Plasma pulse
M
Shock wave
aterial enhancement has Transparent overlay
long been at the lead- (water)
ing edge of technologi-
cal innovation. Powerful
FIGURE 1. A schematic that shows the laser peening process.
machines require robust
components, but material In the early 1990s, the US Air Force encountered foreign
limitations present a critical object damage (FOD) issues with General Electric (GE) F101
obstacle to performance optimization. Laser shock peening engines in the B-1 Lancer. GE needed an innovative mate-
(LSP) resides at the forefront of material enhancement, employ- rial enhancement solution to mitigate FOD, and they part-
ing high-energy lasers to generate deep compressive residual nered with Battelle to explore the benefits of laser peening
surface stresses for proven metal fatigue resistance. F101 fan blades.
Laser peening has been implemented by original equip- After processing samples and subjecting them to fatigue
ment manufacturers (OEMs) in the aviation and power gen- testing, Battelle scientists demonstrated that laser-peened
eration industries to enhance their products resistance to blades with simulated FOD damage retained fatigue lifetimes
cracking caused by fretting, corrosion, foreign object dam- superior to those of new, undamaged blades. This was a land-
age, and fatigue. Now, after nearly 50 years of technological mark result, as the Air Force had previously dedicated exten-
advancement, the first line of turnkey industrial laser peening sive resources to laborious manual inspections of all F101 first
systems is integrating the technology into manufacturing facil- stage fan blades before each flight.
ities around the world. With potential cost savings in the tens of millions over the
life of the B-1, the Air Force authorized the production develop-
Origins ment of laser peening for fatigue enhancement, and GE Aircraft
Laser peening as a metal improvement process was born in Engines began laser peening all F101 first-stage fan blades
the 1970s out of research at the Battelle Memorial Institute using a newer-generation, two-beam, 50J laser system mod-
(Battelle; Columbus, OH). Researchers at Battelle, led by Dr. eled after the single-beam, 1Hz Battelle design.
Jeff Dulaney, were exploring whether high-energy, short-pulse
lasers could be used to improve material properties. They ini- Commercialization
tially demonstrated significant tensile strength improvements Inspired by the results of the F101 study and subsequent Air
in 7075 aluminum alloy specimens after processing them with a Force demand, Dr. Dulaney left Battelle and founded LSP
1.22.2GW/cm2, 32ns Gaussian pulse. The Battelle laser deliv- Technologies (LSPT; Dublin, OH), with the sole purpose of
ered energy outputs up to 500J, but the systems size (over 15m commercializing laser shock peening. The company acquired
long) and slow pulse rate (one pulse every 68 min.) made it an exclusive worldwide license to Battelles laser peening pat-
impractical for industrial material processing. ents, and began marketing laser peening equipment and ser-
In the 1980s, Battelle engineers and scientists designed vices as a fatigue enhancement solution. LSPT constructed
and built an advanced prototype system for laser peening. GE Aviations initial laser peening systems, as well as their
The high-powered system incorporated long-pulse flashlamps own in-house production system for commercial laser peen-
with a high-repetition-rate oscillator, transforming the previ- ing: a 20W, neodymium (Nd) glass, flashlamp-pumped sys-
ously hulking, single-pulse laser into a 200kW burst laser oper- tem paired with a production work cell and 400-lb.-capable
ating at 1Hz. part-handling robot.
FIGURE 3. LSP Technologies Procudo 200 Laser Peening System. FIGURE 4. The Procudo 200 Laser Peening Systems diode-
pumped amplification setup.
The next generation features a flat-top beam (FIGURE 5) with selectable energy and
Now, this surface enhancement technology is available as a pulse widths, while the diode-pumped oscillator provides a sta-
fully integrated turnkey system: LSP Technologies Procudo 200 ble, repeatable output for high-repetition processing with narrow
Laser Peening System is engineered specifically for manufactur- variability (FIGURE 6).
ing environments (FIGURE 3). Equipped with an embedded 200W The system incorporates a modular design, engineered for inte-
diode-pumped Nd:YLF laser (FIGURE 4), the system can deliver gration directly into manufacturing lines. Selectable parameters
10J of energy per pulse at a repetition rate of 20Hz. The system provide operators the flexibility to laser-peen parts of any size or
VascuLathe ASR
LaserTurn 5 - From From 600 to 800 rpm CCS130DR - From
600 to 800 rpm (33% increase) 600 to 1000 rpm
(33% increase) (66% increase)
VascuLathe ACS
From 300 to 600 rpm
(100% increase)
Stent and other cylindrical laser processing applications and neural stents to 30 mm diameter tube processing,
depend on rotary speed and precision for maximum and feature an integrated linear/rotary design with both
throughput and quality of the finished product. Aerotech wet and dry cutting, automated material handling, and an
has just increased the rotary speed of our cylindrical advanced and easy-to-use control architecture.
laser processing platforms from 33% to 100%, all while Contact an Aerotech Application Engineer today to discuss
maintaining our legendary precision. Our platforms are how our new and improved cylindrical laser-processing
available for everything from the manufacture of cardiac platforms can make a difference to your bottom line.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Procudo Laser Peening System is a registered trademark of LSP
Technologies.
www.scanlab.de
DR. JEFF DULANEY (jdulaney@lspt.com) is with LSP Technologies, Dublin, OH; www.
lsptechnologies.com.
Industrial Laser Solutions is the leading media resource for laser materials
processing and manufacturing professionals. Industrial Laser Solutions
magazine, email newsletters and website deliver unique, unbiased,
and in-depth technical information about the innovations and challenges
specific to the industry.
Deep-UV technology
benefits laser
microfabrication
DUV laser focusing system
METHOD ACHIEVES In laser microfabrication, a laser beam is focused and irradi-
ated on the surface of the target workpiece, and the irradiated
10 M-DIAMETER DRILLED HOLES part of the workpiece is removed by the photon energy. When
the focused laser spot diameter is smaller, the area removed by
laser irradiation also gets smaller, increasing the microfabrication
YUJI IMAMIYA, SATORU AKAMA, quality. There are multiple means to achieve a smaller focused
YOSHIHITO FUJITA, and HARUHIKO NIITANI laser spot diameter, such as utilizing a short-wavelength laser,
enlarging the beam diameter before focusing, and shortening
the focal length.
However, when the wavelength of the laser light reaches the UV
I
range, the lasers absorbance through glass materials increases.
n recent years, a microfabrication method utilizing a Therefore, it is necessary to ease the strain on optical element
short-pulse, short-wavelength laser has attracted atten- materials such as the lens. In other methods, the convergence angle
tion in connection with the growing demand for further is large, which is likely to cause a gap in size of the hole between its
miniaturization and increased quality of ultraprecision entrance and exit and to reduce the focal depth, limiting the shape
machining. Using a picosecond-pulse laser enables of the hole created by drilling.
ablation with no thermal effects, achieving high-preci- A newly developed optical laser focusing system was adopted
sion fabrication with superior quality. Additionally, using
for the DUV laser. The durability of the lens was ensured by testing
a short-wavelength laser can make the spot diameter of a laser the durability against the DUV laser beam of the glass used for the
beam smaller, enabling finer fabrication. optical element beforehand, while selecting the optimal glass mate-
Currently, popular short-pulse lasers for microfabrication include rial and setting appropriate laser irradiation intensity. Furthermore,
green lasers (532nm), followed by ultraviolet (UV) lasers (355nm). by optimizing the focal length and lens form, the convergence angle
On the other hand, deep-ultraviolet (DUV) lasers at 266nm have is minimized and a long focal depth is achieved, while the focused
not been widely used because of difficulties in handling. laser spot diameter remains very small.
At Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Machine Tool, we have devel- Single-crystal
silicon carbide wafer Borosilicate glass Stainless steel
oped a helical drilling system that 1 1 1
employs a DUV laser. With it, we
conducted hole-drilling tests in
which we achieved 10m-diam- Fabrication
eter hole drilling with an aspect depth
ratio of 10. Moreover, because
of the high photon energy of the
DUV laser, high-quality hole drill-
0 1 0 1 0 1
ing was accomplished on a work- Energy intensity Energy intensity Energy intensity
piece material on which precision
machining and fabrication based DUV laser Green laser
on chemical actions are extremely
difficult. This occurs because of its FIGURE 1. Fabrication depth of individual materials corresponding to the energy intensity of DUV
high degree of hardness and chem- and green laser are shown, where normalized values are utilized for the vertical and horizontal
ical stability. axes; all charts utilize a unified scale.
a) b) c) d)
FIGURE 3. Examples of hole-drilling and micro-grooving include a straight hole (a), tapered hole (b), reverse tapered hole (c), and
perpendicular incidence hole (d).
Outlook YUJI IMAMIYA, SATORU AKAMA, YOSHIHITO FUJITA, and HARUHIKO NIITANI
To satisfy the need for finer laser microfabrication, we developed are with the Advanced Manufacturing System Development Center at Mitsubishi Heavy
an optical system that uses a short-pulse DUV laser, with which Industries Machine Tool, Shiga, Japan; www.mhi-machinetool.com.
H T
I G
L ESS IC
I NG S
N G O C TO
N
D I L
I A OF
R
P P HO
E A E R
AT O R L
D
E L N
M W
I SE R
T H L A
R
SE T LA
A
world-of-photonics.com/
materialprocessing
Nano to pico
to femto: Pulse widths
for optimal laser
micromachining outcomes
CHOICE OF PULSE WIDTH HAS HIGH IMPACT
T
he goal of any machining process economics of the process. Pulsed lasers with pulse widths in
is to achieve the desired high-qual- the nanosecond-to-femtosecond range are commonly used
ity results in the shortest time pos- for precision micromachining of various materials. This article
sible and in the most economical describes the tradeoff among throughput, quality, and cost for
way. Laser machining, compared to commonly used nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond
conventional mechanical machining lasers for micromachining.
techniques such as cutting, milling,
and drilling, can achieve localized, high-quality, and precise Nanosecond pulse widths
machining. With the right choice of laser, one can also achieve It is well established that, for the same average power, nano-
a high-yield, high-throughput, and economical process. second lasers result in a higher rate of material removal and,
One industry where lasers are heavily used is in manufac- therefore, higher throughput vs. picosecond and femtosecond
turing mobile devices. The demand to make smaller, faster, lasers because of the fact that the majority of material removal
lighter, and lower-cost mobile devices has required laser takes place by melting. The material is heated by the laser pulse
micromachining processes that can meet this challenge. from room temperature to its melting temperature, and is even-
Other industries, such as medical device manufacturing, tually removed by evaporation and molten material expulsion.
clean energy, automotive, and aerospace, have also adopted The precision and quality of machining, however, suffers
laser machining to varying degrees. since the molten material removed usually clings to the edges of
While several laser parameters
affect the machining results, the
choice of pulse width is one of the
important factors that affect the
precision, throughput, quality, and
FIGURE 1. An 80m-diameter
through-via hole drilled in copper-
polyamide-copper FPCB film with
an average burr height of 2m
around its edge.
the machined feature and re-solidifies. The over-3X cost-per-watt improvement in a In another direction, Spectra-Physics
residual heat that remains in the material span of as many years. As a result, these Quasar UV hybrid fiber laser offers >60W
creates what is known as a heat-affected lasers are now widely used in applica- UV short nanosecond pulses at high rep-
zone (HAZ) around the machined features. tions such as UV marking, thin-film pat- etition rates with flexible, programma-
Also, some of the ejected molten material terning, PC board cutting, and via drilling ble pulses. This combination of capabili-
splashes around the machined feature and to achieve fine features at high through- ties dramatically opened up the available
creates poor quality of machining. puts. FIGURE 1 shows an 80m-diame- parameter space for UV nanosecond
These ill effects may be reduced with ter through-via hole generated in a cop- lasers, and enabled high-quality and
some added cost by using a green or ultra- per-polyimide-copper flexible printed high-throughput machining of semicon-
violet (UV) wavelength and shorter-pulse- circuit board (FPCB) film using a Talon ductors, ceramics, sapphire, glass, battery
width nanosecond lasers. UV nanosecond UV laser, with a very minimal average burr foils, and other materials used in mobile
lasers in particular can result in signifi- height of ~2m around its edge. devices. In the future, UV nanosecond
cantly reduced HAZ because of the shal-
low absorption depth in most materials. a) b)
UV nanosecond lasers also provide the
advantages of a tighter focal spot size and 17.45m
8.99m
larger depth of focus needed in machining
small features.
Recent developments in the capabilities
and cost of UV nanosecond lasers have
accelerated their adoption in precision
50m 50m
micromachining. For example, Spectra-
Physics Talon and Explorer UV lasers lead
a dramatic cost-performance improve- FIGURE 2. Gorilla Glass scribes using a UV nanosecond laser (a) and a green picosecond
ment in the industry for UV lasers, with an laser (b).
intelligent
second lasers, early work [1] shows that glass was ~18m compared to ~9m
reduced melting of stainless steel occurs achieved using a green picosecond laser.
when processed using picosecond laser In addition to the quality benefit and
pulses instead of nanosecond pulses. throughput disadvantage of picosecond vs.
Many other studies have shown that
machining qualitydefined as width of
nanosecond lasers, the economics must
also be considered since picosecond lasers
laser
HAZ, debris formation, and molten material are usually significantly more expensive for
buildup and splatter around the laser-ma-
chined edgesimproves when a picosec-
ond laser is used for micromachining. Also,
both upfront cost and cost of ownership.
Spectra-Physics IceFyre industrial pico-
second lasers, which offer widely adjust-
scanning
the material removal threshold, defined as able repetition rates, a programmable burst
minimum fluence measured as energy per mode capability, and high reliability, will
area (mJ/cm2), required for material removal enable advances and new applications in
is much lower for a picosecond laser pulse micromachining that were previously impos-
than a nanosecond pulse. sible because of process flexibility, reliabil-
The higher peak power achieved ity, cost-performance, or size constraints.
because of the shorter picosecond
pulse width clearly helps initiate material Picosecond vs.
removal at a much-lower energy per pulse. femtosecond machining
However, from a practical viewpoint, a Moving to even shorter pulse widths, the
majority of cutting or drilling processes are choice between picosecond and femtosec-
executed at a much higher fluence than the ond laser pulse widths for micromachining
material removal threshold, and a nano- depends on the material to be machined,
second laser with the same average power quality requirements, and economic con-
provides higher throughput than a pico- siderations. A femtosecond laser may pro-
second laser. If higher quality is an import- vide quality improvement over a picosecond
ant requirement for the process, then using laser, but the higher laser cost is a serious
a picosecond laser instead of a nanosec- consideration. Both picosecond and femto-
ond laser is necessary. second lasers provide high peak power and,
Once that choice is made, a picosecond therefore, lower material removal thresh-
laser with the appropriate power level will old fluence. The removal threshold flu-
need to be selected to meet the throughput ence for femtosecond laser pulses is lower
requirement. FIGURE 2 shows 0.7mm-thick than picosecond pulses for many materi-
Gorilla Glass scribes created using UV als. However, at fluence levels higher than
nanosecond and green picosecond lasers the threshold where most of the practical
Collaborate. Innovate.
a) b)
200m 200m Engineer. Deliver.
www.cambridgetechnology.com/ils05
FIGURE 3. A PLLA cut edge using a picosecond laser (a) and a femtosecond laser (b).
machining processes are executed, the Summary Looking into the future, we see contin-
material removal rate is material dependent. While no one single laser pulse width can ued advances in the cost-performance of
A study [2] shows that material removal achieve the desired machining for all mate- nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosec-
rate for stainless steel increases as pulse rials, the choice of pulse width does have ond lasers. These advances will drive fur-
width decreases from 10ps to 900fs, high impact on quality, throughput, and ther rapid adoption of lasers in precision
whereas the removal rate for aluminum cost of the processes. A laser should be manufacturing using all three categories
nitride decreases as pulse width decreases. chosen based on the material to be pro- of pulse widths, each for its particular set
In machining heat-sensitive polymers, such cessed and the desired quality, through- of materials and applications with its own
as poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) used to manu- put, and cost requirements. In general, advantages in machining quality, through-
facture biodegradable stents or thin films in nanosecond lasers provide an economical, put, and economics.
organic LED (OLED) displays, femtosecond higher-throughput solution at a reasonable
laser pulses are required to avoid melting quality over picosecond and femtosecond ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
and heat damage. lasers, and UV nanosecond lasers (in par- Explorer, Quasar, Spectra-Physics, Spirit,
FIGURE 3a shows melting at the edge of ticular) offer a sweet spot of high quality and Talon are registered trademarks of
PLLA using a 10ps laser, while FIGURE 3b and high throughput for many applications. Spectra-Physics, while IceFyre is a trade-
shows a clean edge achieved using a 400fs However, for thin metals, transparent mark of Spectra-Physics.
Spectra-Physics Spirit laser. So, femto- materials, and heat-sensitive materials, pico-
second lasers are necessary for machin- second and femtosecond lasers can pro- REFERENCES
ing certain type of materials because of vide machining quality advantages and, if the [1] B. N. Chichkov et al., Appl. Phys. A, 63, 109115 (1996).
[2] Same quality at a third of the machining time,
their properties and in situations where the best machining quality is necessary, a pico-
Commun.: Laser Technik J., 12, 2226 (Jun. 11, 2015).
required process quality requirements can- second or femtosecond laser are favored for
not be met using picosecond lasers. As micromachining. A new class of high-power
RAJESH PATEL (raj.patel@spectra-physics.com),
with nanosecond and picosecond lasers, industrial picosecond and femtosecond JIM BOVATSEK, and HERMAN CHUI are all with Spectra-
femtosecond lasers are also improving in lasers are providing higher throughput, along Physics, Santa Clara, CA; www.spectra-physics.com.
cost-performance over time. with higher quality at lower cost per watt.
For more information on Performance Review Institute and the Nadcap Program please visit
our website at www.pri-network.org/Nadcap JPPLUS.COM 1-800-869-7800
Femtosecond lasers
enable quality
microfabrication
LASER TECHNOLOGY APPLIES TO a) Cutting rate (mm/s) b) Cutting rate (mm/s)
P = 5W
12 12
SEVERAL MATERIAL TYPES 10 10
E = 75J P = 3W
8 8
6 E = 50J 6
MARTYNAS BARKAUSKAS, E = 25J
4 4 P = 0.5W
VYTAUTAS BUTKUS, and SIMAS BUTKUS 2 2
30 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 0 100 200 300 400 500
Laser pulse length (ps) Repetition rate (kHz)
L
laser pulse duration (a) and repetition rate (b) from use of a
asers are indispensable tools in many 1030mm femtosecond PHAROS laser.
areas of industry, science, and medi-
cine. Now, ultrafast laser-based micro- pulse-material interaction zone is transformed into the gas
machining is a widespread example phase from local heating, leading to vaporization and ejection
of laser source utilization, leading to of material. Local heating is achieved because of the elec-
unprecedented microfabrication quality. tron-phonon interaction of the excited free electrons and the
Advantages of femtosecond laser material crystal lattice.
processing over regular mechanical and laser techniques in In hot ablation (i.e., material removal), laser pulse length and
automotive, medical instrumentation, and electronics industries material removal rate is comparable to the timescales of mate-
include (but are not limited to) high speed, precision, quality, rial thermal diffusion. As a result, heat is transferred outside
and reproducibility, allowing for simplified or, in many cases, the ablation zone and might cause collateral thermal damage
no post-processing operations. This field of laser technology commonly referred to as heat-affected zone (HAZ). Moreover,
is currently under intensive development and many exciting the hot-ablation threshold is very dependent on the number
micromachining techniques are yet to emerge. of material defects and impurities in the ablation zone, leading
In laser-assisted manufacturing, every processed material to less-precise and less-reproducible micromachining results.
is a special case and some research is always required. Laser Together, HAZ and ablation variability impede success of some
parameters, such as pulse length, wavelength, repetition rate, applications.
and energy, might determine the processing rate and qual- Detrimental effects because of HAZ and material impurities
ity. Therefore, finding that optimal set of laser parameters and are, in theory, completely absent in the working conditions of
choosing the right cost-effective technology is very import- cold ablation, offered by femtosecond laser pulses through a
ant. At this point, a highly versatile industrial laser with tunable nonlinear absorption process. Since the peak energy of fem-
pulse length, energy, and repetition rate becomes a vital part tosecond pulses is much higher than picosecond or nanosec-
of the whole system. ond pulses, electrons in the valence band are excited to a great
extent, resulting in local material ionization. Enormous electro-
Femtosecond ablation static forces between the ions are established, and the mate-
In one way or another, the desired mechanical modifications rial goes through irreversible changes as it is locally exploded
in bulk material or a surface are the results of related physical or cracks are formed. As the process is faster than thermal-
phenomena, occurring right after deposition of light energy ization time, locally induced heat, if any, is effectively stripped
to a material. In the simplest terms, these processes can be away along with the removed material.
divided into hot and cold micromachining. Femtosecond lasers may also offer faster micromachining.
In hot micromachining, solid phase material at the optical For example, measured cutting rate dependence on laser pulse
a) b)
In femtosecond laser hole drilling, shap-
ing of the hole is usually performed in
another stage, separated from the high-flu-
ence perforation. Such laser post-pro-
cessing allows for additional adjustment,
as some applications might require cylin-
drical holes, whereas others might require
tapered ones.
New processing techniques like heli-
100m
cal drilling have been developed to fur-
ther increase processing quality. In gen-
eral, femtosecond laser machining has
FIGURE 2. Invar foil cutting with 10ps (a) and 260fs (b) laser pulses.
excellent prospects for the production of
length and energy is shown for a nickel-iron production yield. Moreover, apart from cut- mentioned fluidic components or other
alloy (Invar; FIGURE 1). There, cutting rate ting, the same femtosecond laser source dosing devices.
increases when shorter pulses are used, can be used for micromachining of the Surface structuring. Femtosecond
and the gain in the rate is at least 50% material surface, showing great promise laser pulses are beneficial in advanced
when femtosecond instead of picosecond when being applied in manufacturing of material surface structuring (FIGURE 3).
pulses are used. Apart from faster cutting, medical microstructures composed of dif- Microfabrication of surface nanostruc-
the edge quality at the cut is much better ferent geometries. turessuch as grooves, spikes, and dim-
for the femtosecond cuts (FIGURE 2). Etching. Femtosecond laser pulses plesusing femtosecond pulses is both
Processing with femtosecond high- can be applied in the creation of struc- precise and robust, and can be applied
peak-power pulses might rarely lead to tural and optical changes within the bulk to large areas. Such nanostructures can,
nonlinear effect-induced plasma formation of transparent materials, and for subse- for example, change the surfaces wetting
at the material surface or even in ambient quent chemical etching processes. This behavior and find applications in plasmon-
air. Such effects might impair material pro- femtosecond laser irradiation and chemi- ics, nanophotonics, nanoelectronics, solar
cessing quality, but it is always possible to cal etching method is used in fused silica cells fabrication, etc.
mitigate these effects with a versatile laser substrates for the creation of microfluidic
source, offering fine tunability of its output applications (lab-on-chip, TAS, etc.) and Applications in UV
radiation properties, such as pulse dura- microchip 3D stacking. Ultraviolet (UV) femtosecond pulses are
tion and repetition rate. Because femtosecond pulses create used when micrometer-size parts must be
precise modifications without collateral fabricated from materials that are extremely
Additional laser processing uses damage at high processing rates, the sec- sensitive to heat effect. Applications
Cutting. For heat-sensitive or brittle mate- ond partchemical etchingis compa- include processing of different types of
rial cutting, HAZ must be minimized. rably a very slow process that might take piezo ceramics and sophisticated crys-
Therefore, femtosecond laser machining hours to complete. However, novel hybrid tal materials for infrared detection, among
quite often becomes a key enabling tech- chemical etching technologies, employ- others. In these cases, third and fourth har-
nique for high-quality cutting. ing a combination of different chemical monics of ytterbium-based femtosecond
Femtosecond laser machining allows a agents, show great promise in this field. lasers (343 and 257nm) have been used.
user to obtain smooth and burr-free cuts Whats more, the chemical etching step is Although UV femtosecond pulses are
in most materials, such as metals, ceram- effortlessly parallelized, as multiple sam- very attractive for a variety of scientific
ics, glasses, polymers, and organic tissues, ples can be etched at the same time in the and industrial applications, proper design
while at the same time keeping the sur- same container. of optics for delivering UV femtosecond
face free of debris, thus requiring less or Drilling. Many industrial applications pulses remains challenging. However,
even no post-processing. These proper- require drilling of high-quality and control- industrial-grade UV femtosecond lasers are
ties are crucial in many applications, such lable-geometry holes in materials, such as currently available on the market and offer
as in micromachining of medical implants fuel or ink-jet injection nozzles. To achieve reliable operation for thousands of hours.
made of delicate materials. high processing speed and quality, high Another proven application of UV fem-
Kerfs and struts measuring a few microns pulse fluencies are necessary for a few tosecond pulses is laser-ablation induc-
wide are cut in the microfabrication of cylin- reasons. First, the ejected particles from tively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.
drical stents of heart valve frames. In the deep within a small hole need to have Femtosecond ultraviolet pulses are pre-
case of Nitinol-based medical micro-im- high kinetic energy to be able to escape ferred to ensure absorption of most sol-
plants, the advantages of using femtosec- from the drilled hole. Secondly, as the hole id-phase materials.
ond pulses over picosecond pulses were becomes deeper, effective fluence tends to In laser-assisted mass spectrometry, the
proven obvious, resulting in higher pre- decrease from laser-drilled holes being of process consists of two stages: ablation and
cision, overall process robustness, and conical shape. detection. After particles from the sample
are locally ionized because of the high-en- shown to reduce the matrix effect and ele- Outlook
ergy light interaction with material, they are mental fractionation, which might nega- These are exciting times for femtosecond
passed to the mass spectrometer for iden- tively influence the quality of analysis. laser applications in high-quality material
tification. By this means, spatially resolved Femtosecond laser-assisted mass spec- processing, with many new applications
analysis with micrometer resolution is possi- trometry systems are already commer- emerging daily. High efficiency, elimina-
ble in complex samples, such as melt inclu- cially available, and the technique itself tion of HAZ, and applicability to many dif-
sions, dust aerosols, zonations of minerals, has considerable potential to be routinely ferent materials are the key driving factors
ultrathin films, and biological samples. used for in situ analysis of element and in this field.
Apart from the above-mentioned advan- isotopic compositions for a wide variety On the laser source side, this drives
tages, femtosecond laser pulses were also of materials. additional parameter flexibility require-
ments, permitting the user to fine-tune the
a) b) c) light-matter interaction recipe for the high-
est efficiency and quality.
100m 100m
REFERENCES
1. H. Misawa and S. Juodkazis, 3D Laser Microfabrication:
Principles and Applications, Wiley-VCH Verlag, Weinheim,
Germany (2006).
2. K. Sugioka and Y. Cheng, Light Sci. Appl., 3, e149 (2014).
3. R. Schaeffer, Fundamentals of Laser Micromachining, CRC
Press, Boca Raton, FL (2012).
100m
Dr. MARTYNAS BARKAUSKAS (martynas.barkauskas@
lightcon.com) and Dr. VYTAUTAS BUTKUS are both with
FIGURE 3. Examples of femtosecond microfabrication in alumina (a), sapphire (b), and Light Conversion, Vilnius, Lithuania (http://lightcon.com),
silicon (c). (Courtesy: Institute of Materials Science, Kaunas University of Technology, while SIMAS BUTKUS is with the Faculty of Physics at
Kaunas, Lithuania) Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Presented by:
1.800.34LASER www.icaleo.org
JASON GOERGES
W
hen faced with a new
potential project or
application, laser micro-
processing and micro-
machining system inte-
grators and original
equipment manufac-
turers (OEMs) can often provide a proof-of-concept demon-
stration on a demo machine with relatively little time and
effort. However, once interest by the client(s) is shown, the diffi-
cult process of turning proof-of-concept into a robust machine
FIGURE 1. An
solution begins, often dictated by a very aggressive schedule. HMI software: building the HMI appli-
interface for
Delivering laser pulses to the workpiece with a high degree cation with a customizable platform.
loading, executing,
of accuracy and repeatability, along with developing and main-
monitoring, and
taining the human machine interface (HMI) software, are among CNC-style HMI
modifying CNC
the most complex and resource-intensive efforts associated Many laser micromachining and micro-
programs.
with this process. As these efforts involve a variety of tech- processing systems are used in a
nologies and disciplines, there are many challenges to solve. machining or manufacturing environ-
Thanks to new motion/computer numerical control (CNC) ment alongside other traditional CNC machines, such as lathes,
technologies in the marketplace, such as customizable HMI mills, and routers. Having commonality between the laser sys-
development platforms, advanced motion performance opti- tem HMI and the HMIs of the other machines is beneficial to the
mization features, and the laser control module, many of the manufacturer, as it leverages existing knowledge and experi-
aforementioned challenges are solved in an out-of-the-box ence of the manufacturers machinists and technicians.
manner. This allows the machine developer to minimize com- A customizable CNC HMI development platform can be
plexity and bring a machine to market faster, with improved expected to provide many standard HMI features out of the
process accuracy. box, including:
Laser micromachining/microprocessing HMI software is a The ability to load, edit, and execute NC files with Standard
critical component or subsystem of the machine, and typically RS-274 and user-defined G-codes (FIGURE 1);
falls into one of two classifications. One is a CNC-style HMI Flexible CNC program flow control options such as stop,
that imports and executes machine code programs (typically hold, abort, single-block run, block skip, and feed-rate hold;
G-code) created by a computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) Real-time monitoring of program execution, axis positions,
software post-processor. The other is an integrated graph- feed rates, G-code modality, alarms, and faults; and
ical HMI that allows import and manipulation of CAD files, Multi-tiered user access login screens for operators, tech-
and provides integrated CAM/post processing functionality. nicians, developers, and administrators.
Some motion and CNC controller companies now offer cus- The platform also solves many challenges associated with
tomizable HMI development platforms for both types of HMIs. integration of the HMI host application and the motion/CNC
This allows a system integrator or OEM to take a new, less-re- controller, as it optimizes NC program download, compilation,
source-intensive approach to developing and maintaining their and execution time; manages G-code modality to support
Process improvements
For many laser microprocessing and micromachining appli-
cations, the motion performance is critical in determining the
achievable accuracy and repeatability of the process. Motion
performance is affected both by the profile generation (com-
manded motion path) and the servo performance (how well the
actuators/stages follow the commanded motion path).
FIGURE 2. 3D visualization and recipe planning for processing Todays sophisticated motion/CNC controllers pro-
of 3D parts. vide advanced profile generation and servo performance
T
hirty-four years ago, in sister for pulse width selection (see page 21). Martynas
publication Laser Focus World, Barkauskas and co-authors at Light Conversion
I wrote If laser systems are to in Lithuania describe how ultrafast lasers are
capture an increasing share of finding their way into manufacturing applications
the markets now held by low- requiring high-quality ablation and precision cut-
er-cost conventional tools, efforts must be made ting, transforming the manufacturing of medical
to narrow the price gap. At that time, the total devices and small-scale parts (see page 25).
global market for industrial laser systems was In the UK, Lindley Pate (Hope Technology)
about $219 million, while in 2016, it was estimated says that a fiber laser cutter, replacing CO2 units,
DIVERSE LASER (by Optech Consulting) at $12.6 billiona 12.66% has become an essential tool for producing bicy-
CAGR. Contrast this with the 2.2% CAGR of ma- cle brake discs and sprockets that his company
PROCESSING chine tools in the same period. manufactures (see page 4). Jeff Dulaney (LSP
Since a short boom in 2010-2011, spurred by Technologies) tells the story of laser peening
sales in China, global machine tool sales have from its early adoption by the U.S. Air Force to
TOPICS THIS
dropped more than 40%, partly as a result of poor the modern commercialization of diode-pumped
investment decisions by Chinese companies. In laser peening systems integrated into manufac-
ISSUE SHOWCASE that same period, equivalent global industrial turing processes around the world (see page 12).
laser system sales increased 30%, driven by buy- Metallurgically bonding metals to extend the life
INTERNATIONAL ing decisions in China and aided in no small part of essential drilling machinery components is
by reductions in unit selling prices by the laser one aspect of Australian company LaserBond
industry. Rebounding machine tool sales are pro- in our cover story, Allan Morton projects ongo-
REACH
jected to grow 12% by 2020, while lasers are fore- ing laser cladding development work could
cast at 20% in the same period. Is it fair to say I increase drill performance times up to five times
was a prophet before my time? (see page 8).
In all fairness, I have yet to reap any praise From Japan, Yuji Imamiya and associates
for this other bit of wisdom posited in that Laser at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machine Tool
Focus World article: As the industry matures, and describe a deep-ultraviolet laser drilling system
as substantial markets develop for processing that makes holes measuring a minimum of 10m
systems, laser manufacturers will recognize the in diameter with an aspect ratio of 10 (see page
need for standardization as a means to facilitate 17). Finally, from Israel, to meet todays demand
customer purchasing priorities and, perhaps to for high throughput and accuracy in laser pro-
increase market penetration and the competitive cessing, Jason Goerges (ACS Motion Control)
position of the laser versus other competing tech- details motion control systems that offer a new
nologies. Oh well, one cant be right all the time. approach to integrate functionality while still pro-
The selection of diverse features in this issue is viding systems developers the ability to cus-
truly international in scope, reflecting the global tomize functionality for specific applications or
reach of Industrial Laser Solutions. From the US, machine topologies (see page 28).
Rajesh Patel and colleagues at Spectra-Physics
compare lasers with nanosecond to femtosec-
ond pulse widths in various micromachining David A. Belforte
applications, and discuss economic implications belforte@pennwell.com