Contact lens sensing platforms have drawn interest in the last decade for the possibility of providing a sterile, fully integrated ocular screening technology. However, designing scalable and rapid contact lens processing methods while keeping a high resolution is still an unsolved challenge. In this article, femtosecond laser writing is employed as a rapid and precise procedure to engrave microfluidic networks into commercial contact lenses. Functional microfluidic components such as flow valves, resistors, multi‐inlet geometries, and splitters are produced using a bespoke seven‐axis femtosecond laser system, yielding a resolution of 80 µm. The ablation process and the tear flow within microfluidic structures is evaluated both experimentally and computationally using finite element modeling. Flow velocity drops of the 8.3%, 20.8%, and 29% were observed in valves with enlargements of the 100%, 200%, and 300%, respectively. Resistors yielded flow rate drops of 20.8%, 33%, and 50% in the small, medium, and large configurations, respectively. Two applications were introduced, namely a tear volume sensor and a tear uric acid sensor (sensitivity 16 mg L−1), which are both painless alternatives to current methods and provide reduced contamination risks of tear samples.
The uniform energy distribution of top-hat laser beams is a very attractive property that can offer some advantages compared to Gaussian beams. Especially, the desired intensity distribution can be achieved at the laser spot through energy redistribution across the beam spatial profile and, thus, to minimize and even eliminate some inherent shortcomings in laser micro-processing. This paper reports an empirical study that investigates the effects of top-hat beam processing in micro-structuring and compares the results with those obtainable with a conventional Gaussian beam. In particular, a refractive field mapping beam shaper was used to obtain a top-hat profile and the effects of different scanning strategies, pulse energy settings, and accumulated fluence, i.e., hatch and pulse distances, were investigated. In general, the top-hat laser processing led to improvements in surface and structuring quality. Especially, the taper angle was reduced while the surface roughness and edge definition were also improved compared to structures produced with Gaussian beams. A further decrease of the taper angle was achieved by combining hatching with some outlining beam passes. The scanning strategies with only outlining beam passes led to very high ablation rates but in expense of structuring quality. Improvements in surface roughness were obtained with a wide range of pulse energies and pulse and hatch distances when top-hat laser processing was used.
Micro drilling employing ultra-short pulsed lasers is a promising manufacturing technology for producing high aspect ratio holes, particularly on ceramic substrates due to the growing range of application in electronic industry. Controlling the morphology and quality of the holes is an important factor in fulfilling the requirements of such applications. In this research, the effects of a wide fluence spectrum associated with the use of femto-second lasers on achievable aspect ratios were investigated by employing lenses with different focal distances. The holes' morphology and quality were analysed utilising a high resolution X-ray tomography (XCT). It was demonstrated that the achievable aspect ratio can be increased from 3 to 25 just by varying the lenses focal distances. In addition, the quality of produced holes in terms of taper angle and cylindricity was investigated and the results showed that the quality would be improved by increasing the fluence and/or decreasing the focal distance. At the same time, the limitations of drilling holes with low focal distance lenses were discussed, i.e. sensitivity to defocusing and increased risks of recast formations inside the holes and bending effects, that should be considered in designing processes for high aspect ratio percussion drilling.
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Laser microprocessing is a very attractive option for a growing number of industrial applications due to its intrinsic characteristics, such as high flexibility and process control and also capabilities for noncontact processing of a wide range of materials. However, there are some constrains that limit the applications of this technology, i.e., taper angles on sidewalls, edge quality, geometrical accuracy, and achievable aspect ratios of produced structures. To address these process limitations, a new method for two-side laser processing is proposed in this research. The method is described with a special focus on key enabling technologies for achieving high accuracy and repeatability in two-side laser drilling. The pilot implementation of the proposed processing configuration and technologies is discussed together with an in situ, on-machine inspection procedure to verify the achievable positional and geometrical accuracy. It is demonstrated that alignment accuracy better than 10 μm is achievable using this pilot two-side laser processing platform. In addition, the morphology of holes with circular and square cross sections produced with one-side laser drilling and the proposed method was compared in regard to achievable aspect ratios and holes' dimensional and geometrical accuracy and thus to make conclusions about its capabilities.
Any processing disturbances in laser surface texturing (LST) could compromise the resulting surface topography and their desired functional response. Disturbances such as focal plane offsets and beam incident angle variations are always present in LST processing of 3D parts and can affect the surface morphology. In this research the effects of these laser processing disturbances in producing laser induced surface structures (LIPSS) on CoCrMo alloy substrates were investigated. In particular, these two disturbances were considered as laser processing variables to determine their effects on functional responses of LIPSS treated surfaces, i.e. surface wettability and the proliferation of Saos-2 osteoblast-like cells were evaluated. It was found that the changes of laser processing conditions led to a decrease in surface wettability and Saos-2 cells proliferation. In addition, a correlation between surface wettability and cell proliferation on LIPSS treated surface was identified and conclusions made about the effects of investigated process disturbances on the functional response of LIPSS treated CoCrMo substrates.
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