Micro-grooving of brittle materials using textured diamond grinding wheels shaped by an integrated nanosecond laser system

Abstract

The freeform surfaces including both the aspherical and prismatic concave/convex have been widely utilized in optical, electronical, and biomedical areas. Most recently, it is reported that grinding with structured wheels provides new possibility to generate patterns on hard and brittle materials. This paper reports the latest research progress on micro-grooving glass ceramic using laser structured bronze bond diamond grinding wheels. A nanosecond pulse laser is firstly integrated into an ultra-precision machine tool and used for the in-line conditioning of super abrasive grinding wheels, i.e. truing, dressing, and profiling/texturing. Meanwhile, an offset compensation method, considering the shifting depth of focus (DoF) at different laser irradiation position, is proposed to accurately generate various profiles on the periphery of the grinding wheels. Three types of patterns (riblets, grooves, and pillars) are successfully fabricated on the ceramic substrate using the laser textured grinding wheels. The results indicate that the integrated laser system offers high flexibility and accuracy in shaping super abrasive grinding wheels, and the grinding using textured grinding wheels provide a promising solution to generate functional structures on hard and brittle materials.

Microfabrication of Sm2Co17 micromagnets for MEMS and micromotors using ultrashort pulsed hydro laser micromilling process

“…Ultrashort pulsed laser machining has been widely used in recent years to perform machining processes of micrometric structures and shapes in different materials like ceramics, metals and polymers [36]. Pulsed laser machining has been applied in several microfabrication processes: drilling [37], milling [38] grooving [39], and cutting free microparts [40] . Laser machining is also a promising method to cut and grind bulk magnets into small magnetic shapes without exerting mechanical forces.…”