Ultra high-speed micromachining of transparent materials using high PRF ultrafast lasers and new resonant scanning systems

Harth, Florian; Piontek, M. C.; Herrmann, Thomas; L’huillier, Johannes A.

doi:10.1117/12.2212816

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…proposed in [56]. The scanner was applied with a USP laser running at a 5-10 MHz repetition rate to write 1.6 million dots per second with a positioning reproducibility of 1 μm.…”

Section: A Galvanometric and Polygon Scannersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-Short Pulse Lasers for Microfabrication: A Review

Račiukaitis

2021

IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron.

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Ultra-short pulse lasers, generating coherent light pulses with pulse durations in the picosecond and femtosecond range, are becoming popular in precision laser microfabrication. They are benefiting not only from well-predicted laser ablation with the suppressed heat-affected zone but also by opening new processing opportunities, especially in transparent materials, due to enhanced non-linear interaction with the material. In this review, the evolution of various kinds of mode-locked lasers from a scientific toy to a robust industrial tool is reviewed. The utilization benefits of high-average-power, high-pulse-repetition-rate ultra-short pulse laser are closely related to beam shaping and manipulation techniques. Fast beam scanning with galvanometric and polygon scanners as well as multi-beam parallel processing methods were developed. Some hot applications areas are briefly described. The efficient use of photons from ultra-short pulse lasers pushed the development of optimization methods in the ablation process. Efforts toward upscaling the process by increasing the average power of mode-locked lasers made feedback to laser developers, and burst regime became a necessity as well as high-speed beam scanning devices. Unique opportunities of ultra-short pulses are successfully exploited in machining transparent materials, with glass separation being the leading application.

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“…proposed in [56]. The scanner was applied with a USP laser running at a 5-10 MHz repetition rate to write 1.6 million dots per second with a positioning reproducibility of 1 μm.…”

Section: A Galvanometric and Polygon Scannersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-Short Pulse Lasers for Microfabrication: A Review

Račiukaitis

2021

IEEE J. Select. Topics Quantum Electron.

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“…By using laser systems with fixed PRF, meaning constant time between consecutive laser pulses, the pulse-to-pulse distance and accordingly the pulse overlap is continuously changing during the scanning cycle. This characteristic was described in detail in a previous publication for a specific application [6]. More general, the actual beam position x(t) and the corresponding position-dependent deflection speed v(t) can be calculated by the resonant frequency fReso, the size of the scanning field SF (SF = twice the oscillation amplitude) and the distance between scanning mirror and sample surface L (see Figure 2)…”

Section: Fundamentals Of Using Resonant Scanner Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High precision polygon scanners are also relatively expensive due to the requirement of accurate machining of their multiple reflective facets, which often is in the range of several µradians. In order to overcome the current limitations, a new type of a resonant scanning system has been developed and improved recently [6] (see illustration in Figure 1 and specifications in section 4). Due to their oscillation frequencies in the kHz range, resonant scanning enables fast beam deflection speeds from several 100 m/s up to > 1000 m/s depending on the scanning angle amplitude of the resonant system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-speed processing with ultrafast lasers and resonant scanning systems

Herrmann

Kaiser

L’huillier

2023

Laser-Based Micro- And Nanoprocessing XVII

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Ultrafast lasers supplying highest average powers, pulse energies and pulse repetition rates require adequate system technology for high throughput and high quality laser processing. Depending on the application, multi-beam processing and/or high-speed scanning for fast beam deflection are required. Diffractive optical elements are used for beam splitting. Galvanometer scanners show high-performance at pulse repetition frequencies (PRF) up to a few MHz and polygon scanners provide high-speed scanning at even higher PRF for large surface processing. However, efficient line-oriented surface processing of small patterns using PRF in the MHz range cannot be achieved by existing scanning system technology. New resonant scanning systems have the potential to close this gap between galvanometer and polygon scanning with highest beam deflection speeds due to their oscillation frequencies in the kHz range and high duty cycles for all patterns. In addition to the high-speed scanning capabilities, resonant scanners can also enable new applications like ultrashort pulse laser (USPL) surface welding by moving the focused laser beam ultrafast along defined contours, inducing melting layers by heat accumulation. This publication describes the principles of high-speed processing with high power, high PRF ultrafast lasers in combination with high-speed resonant scanning systems. Potential applications and experimental results will be discussed like cutting, two-dimensional surface processing and functionalization, or welding applications. Moreover, a new approach is proposed to convert the nonlinear sinusoidal scanning of resonant systems into linear scanning by a spatially varying modulation of the unfocused laser beam.

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“…In order to satisfy these demands laser-based tools must be used in combination with high-speed scanning systems. Currently, the highest scanning speeds can be achieved with polygon [1] and resonant scanners [2] or with acousto-optic deflectors (AOD) [3,4]. Although the later enables precise scanning with high resolution it is limited by the smaller working area and lower damage threshold compared to the first two.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pulse-on-demand laser operation from nanosecond to femtosecond pulses and its application for high-speed processing

Petelin

Černe

Mur

et al. 2021

Advanced Optical Technologies

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In this manuscript we present a true pulse-on-demand laser design concept using two different approaches. First, we present a fiber master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) based quasi-continuous wave (CW) laser, working at high modulation bandwidths, for generation of nanosecond pulses. Second, we present a hybrid chirped pulse amplification (CPA)-based laser, combining a chirped-pulse fiber amplifier and an additional solid-state amplifier, for generation of femtosecond pulses. The pulse-on-demand operation is achieved without an external optical modulator/shutter at high-average powers and flexible repetition rates up to 40 MHz, using two variants of the approach for near-constant gain in the amplifier chain. The idler and marker seed sources are combined in the amplifier stages and separated at the out using either wavelength-based separation or second harmonic generation (SHG)-generation-based separation. The nanosecond laser source is further applied to high throughput processing of thin film materials. The laser is combined with a resonant scanner, using the intrinsic pulse-on-demand operation to compensate the scanner’s sinusoidal movement. We applied the setup to processing of indium tin oxide (ITO) and metallic films on flexible substrates.

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Ultra high-speed micromachining of transparent materials using high PRF ultrafast lasers and new resonant scanning systems

Cited by 5 publications

References 7 publications

Ultra-Short Pulse Lasers for Microfabrication: A Review

Ultra-Short Pulse Lasers for Microfabrication: A Review

High-speed processing with ultrafast lasers and resonant scanning systems

Pulse-on-demand laser operation from nanosecond to femtosecond pulses and its application for high-speed processing

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