TY - JOUR A1 - Schleier, Max A1 - Esen, Cemal A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Evaluation of a Cut Interruption Algorithm for Laser Cutting Steel and Aluminum with a High-Speed Camera JF - Applied Sciences N2 - We report on a monitoring system based on a high-speed camera for fiber laser fusion cutting. The monitoring system is used without an external illumination retrofit on a conventional cutting head, with the optical path aligned coaxially to the incident laser, permitting a direct, spatially, and temporally resolved detection of the melt pool area in the cut kerf from the top view. The dependence of the melt pool area on laser processing parameters such as laser power and feed rate are thus evaluated for stainless steel, zinc-coated steel, and aluminum, respectively. The signal characteristics of the images captured from the melt pool are examined in the visible spectral range of the emitted secondary thermal radiation from the process zone. An ad hoc developed image processing algorithm analyzes the spectral and geometric information of the melt pool from high-speed camera images and distinguishes between complete and incomplete cuts. KW - Laserschneiden KW - Laserschmelzen Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/app13074557 SN - 2076-3417 VL - 13 IS - 7 PB - MDPI AG ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schleier, Max A1 - Esen, Cemal A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Vision transformer based cut interruption detection and prediction of laser fusion cutting from monitored melt pool images JF - Journal of Laser Applications N2 - Incomplete cuts during laser fusion cutting result in a closed kerf, preventing the workpiece from detaching from the sheet and resulting in rework or rejection. We demonstrate the approach of a vision transformer, used for image classification, to detect cut interruption during laser fusion cutting in steel and aluminum. With events impending an incomplete cut in steel, we attempt to predict cut interruption before they even occur. To build a data set for training, cutting experiments are carried out with a 4 kW fiber laser, forcing incomplete cuts by varying the process parameters such as laser power and feed rate. The thermal radiation from the process zone during the cutting process is captured with a size of 256 × 256 px2 at sample rates of 20 × 103 fps. The kerf is recorded with a spectral sensitivity between 400 and 700 nm, without external illumination, which enables the melt to be observed in the range of the visual spectrum. The vision transformer model, which is used for image classification, splits the image into patches, linearly embedded with an added position embedding, and fed to a standard transformer encoder. For training the model, a set of images was labeled for the respective classes of a complete, incomplete, and impending incomplete cut. With the trained model, incomplete cuts in steel and aluminum can then be recognized and impending incomplete cuts in steel can be predicted in advance. KW - Laserschneiden KW - Laserschmelzen Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.2351/7.0001611 SN - 1042-346X VL - 37 IS - 1 PB - Laser Institute of America ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Lutz, Christian A1 - Sommerhuber, Ryan A1 - Kettner, Matthias A1 - Esen, Cemal A1 - Hellmann, Ralf ED - Kling, Rainer ED - Pfleging, Wilhelm ED - Sugioka, Koji T1 - Towards process control by detecting acoustic emissions during ultrashort pulsed laser ablation of multilayer materials T2 - Laser-based Micro- and Nanoprocessing XVIII N2 - We report on process sensing using a membrane-free optical microphone to monitor the acoustic emission during ultrashort pulsed laser ablation of multilayer materials. The acoustic emission during ablation is used to detect material transitions, with the specific signatures allowing to create a reliable process control for identifying individual layers. The outstanding properties of membrane-free optical microphones in terms of high bandwidth and high temporal resolution are ideally qualified for characterizing an ultrashort pulsed laser process, with its properties and capabilities being presented in this contribution. In particular, for layer- and material-selective ablation of multilayer printed circuit board components, copper and polyimide layers are ablated and the material transition is detected by analyzing the acoustic signal at different frequency levels, which is a novelty in the field of ultrashort pulsed laser process sensing. The investigations show, that the optical microphone can be used to resolve both the scanning paths and ablated layers by means of interruptions in a time-resolved acoustic spectrogram. Furthermore, as a result of a higher ablation rate of polyimide compared to copper and thus the increase of the emitted acoustic energy, the material transition between copper and polyimide layers can clearly be detected. The detection of this process event can be used for process control. KW - Ultrakurzzeitlaser Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3000954 PB - SPIE ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Lutz, Christian A1 - Helm, Jonas A1 - Esen, Cemal A1 - Hellmann, Ralf ED - Kling, Rainer ED - Pfleging, Wilhelm ED - Sugioka, Koji T1 - Computational optimization of borehole sequences for the reduction of heat accumulation in drilling processes using ultrashort pulse lasers T2 - Laser-based Micro- and Nanoprocessing XVIII N2 - We report on laser drilling of borehole arrays using a high-power ultrashort pulse laser with particular focus on reducing heat accumulation in the workpiece by optimizing the drilling sequence, particularly for highly efficient multi-spot drilling. Different optimization approaches are chosen to improve the drilling sequence, also comparing a simplex algorithm and an evolutionary algorithm. From a laser application point of view, we also compare drilling sequences using a single spot and up to 16-fold multi-spots generated by a spatial light modulator, as to accelerate the drilling process in terms of the number of drilled holes per second. To evaluate the temperatures generated during drilling of up to 40,000 holes in less than 76 seconds in stainless steel foil, temperatures are measured by a thermal imaging camera and subsequently compared to a COMSOL-based simulation for all optimized drilling sequences. With respect to an average temperature of 706 °C without optimization, a reduction by 252 °C, i.e., a reduction by nearly 36 % based on the Celsius scale, is achieved using a 4 × 4 beam splitter and an optimized drilling sequence with a drilling rate of 526 holes per second. In addition, using a 2 × 2 beam splitter, a temperature reduction of up to 40.5 % is achieved for a drilling process with a rate of 129 holes per second using an optimized drilling sequence. KW - Ultrakurzzeitlaser Y1 - 2024 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3000930 PB - SPIE ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Marx, Jan A1 - Seefeldt, Malte A1 - Haske, Damian A1 - Lutz, Christian A1 - Hellmann, Ralf A1 - Esen, Cemal A1 - Ostendorf, Andreas T1 - Holographic freeform micro hole processing using Bessel beams JF - Optics & Laser Technology N2 - Bessel beams are advantageous tools for micro drilling applications due to their diffraction-free properties, their long focal length, and their small focal spot diameter. However, their application in industry is limited because they are challenging to integrate into flexible beam shaping systems. This work is intended to overcome limitations in flexibility by presenting a new approach paving the way to high-aspect ratio freeform holes. Therefore, a spatial light modulator was integrated into an axicon-based setup to merge diffraction-free ablation with the flexibility of holographic spatial beam shaping. A dynamic change of the phase hologram displayed on the spatial light modulator during the process allows for the generation of arbitrary ablation geometries. In contrast to other holographic approaches, the diffraction-free nature of the Bessel beam allows ablation over an extended focal depth without any focus control needed. The applicability of the approach was demonstrated by processing arbitrary hole shapes, such as ellipses, squares, or star-shapes. The hole sizes of the freeform holes range from 4 μm to 80 μm. Furthermore, up-scaling of the process is demonstrated by using the setup for generation of multi-Bessel spots. KW - Mikrobearbeitung KW - Laserbohren Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2024.112287 SN - 0030-3992 VL - 183 PB - Elsevier BV ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Lutz, Christian A1 - Jung, Marcel A1 - Tschirpke, Katrin A1 - Esen, Cemal A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Optimization of Heat Accumulation during Femtosecond Laser Drilling Borehole Matrices by Using a Simplex Algorithm JF - Materials N2 - We report on an optimization study of percussion drilling thin metal sheets employing a high repetition rate, high power femtosecond laser with respect to the resulting heat accumulation. A specified simplex algorithm was employed to optimize the spatial drilling sequence, whereas a simplified thermal simulation using COMSOL was validated by comparing its results to the temperature measurements using an infrared camera. Optimization for drilling borehole matrices was aspired with respect to the generated temperature across the processed specimen, while the drilling strategy was altered in its spatial drilling sequence and by using multi-spot approaches generated by a spatial light modulator. As a result, we found that an optimization strategy based on limited consecutive holes in a Moore neighborhood led to reduced temperatures and the shortest process times. KW - Femtosekundenlaser Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15144829 SN - 1996-1944 VL - 15 IS - 14 PB - MDPI AG ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Lutz, Christian A1 - Schwarz, Simon A1 - Rung, Stefan A1 - Marx, Jan A1 - Esen, Cemal A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Optical system for multi Bessel beam high power ultrashort pulsed laser processing using a spatial light modulator T2 - Lasers in Manufacturing - LiM 2021 N2 - We report on an optical setup for multi Bessel beam processing combining a refractive axicon and a spatial light modulator. Based on their particular beam profile, Bessel beams exhibit various advantages over conventional Gaussian beams for ultrashort pulsed laser processing. Especially for micromachining of transparent materials, applications such as micro-hole drilling or the generation of voids benefit from the increased focal length of the applied Bessel beam. In addition, on account of the significantly increased average output power of industrial ultrashort pulsed lasers over the last years, there is a high demand on multi spot applications for using the available laser power in efficient production processes. Our optical concept combines the dynamic possibilities of beam splitting using spatial light modulator with the benefits of Bessel beams facilitating multi Bessel beam processing. KW - Ultrakurzzeitlaser KW - Lichtmodulator Y1 - 2021 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Sauer, Theresia A1 - Hessler, Steffen A1 - Kaloudis, Michael A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Robust Polymer Planar Bragg Grating Sensors Embedded in Commercial-Grade Composites JF - Polymers N2 - This contribution demonstrates the functionality of polymer planar Bragg grating (PPBG) sensors integrated into commercial-grade carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) components. Multiple CFRP specimens are generated by curing a stack of pre-impregnated fibers inside of a heated mechanical press, exposing the polymer sensor to a pressure of 7 bar and a temperature of 120 °C for 2 h. After integration, the sensor still exhibits a strong and evaluable signal. Subsequent flexural experiments reveal a linear response of the integrated sensor’s Bragg wavelength to the CFRP specimen’s maximum deflection. Additional findings demonstrate that the embedded PPBG can be used to detect plastic deformations of a CFRP workpiece, whereas a linear correlation of plastic deformation to the resulting Bragg signal offset is determined. A plausibility check of the obtained results is delivered by a comparison of three-point flexural experiments on bulk CFRP workpieces, without integrated sensors and additional specimens featuring external optical sensors affixed to their surface. It is found that PPBGs based on cyclic olefin copolymers are able to overcome the temperature-related limitations of traditional polymer-based optical sensors and can thus be directly integrated into commercial-grade composites during production. KW - Bragg grating sensors KW - carbon fiber reinforced polymers KW - cyclic olefin copolymers KW - Bragg-Reflektor KW - Optischer Sensor Y1 - 2020 UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/12/3/715/htm U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/polym12030715 VL - 12 IS - 3 SP - 715 EP - 715 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Rosenberger, Manuel A1 - Hessler, Steffen A1 - Girschikofsky, Maiko A1 - Belle, Stefan A1 - Roth, Gian-Luca A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Fabrication and Applications of Polymer Planar Bragg Grating Sensors based on Cyclic Olefin Copolymers T2 - 2019 Photonics & Electromagnetics Research Symposium - Fall (PIERS - Fall) N2 - This contribution reviews recent advancements, current research and possible applications of polymer planar Bragg grating (PPBG) sensors with a focus on the utilization of cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) substrates. COC-PPBGs can be handled and fabricated efficiently by employing a single writing step procedure which features simultaneous generation of waveguide and Bragg grating structure within an injection molded substrate. The resulting photonic structures exhibit an attenuation as low as 1.2 dB cm-1 and a reflectivity up to 99 %. The potential of COC-PPBGs for high-temperature applications is proven by demonstrating temperature measurements up to 160 °C. Moreover, it is possible to employ single PPBGs for multidimensional stress and strain sensing or even three-dimensional shape reconstruction. Due to their excellent properties, it is feasible to integrate COC-PPBGs into commercial-grade carbon fiber reinforced polymer workpieces for structural health monitoring. Furthermore, utilization of appropriate coatings enables functionalization of PPBGs for refractive index sensing and thus biochemical applications. Beside the fabrication and characterization of COC-based PPBGs, this contribution exemplifies and reviews such applications. KW - Bragg gratings , Gratings , Optical waveguides , Temperature sensors , Substrates KW - Optischer Sensor KW - Bragg-Reflektor Y1 - 2020 UR - https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9021801 SN - 978-1-7281-5304-9 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1109/PIERS-Fall48861.2019.9021801 SP - 647 EP - 655 PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Dai, Jixiang A1 - Yang, Minghong A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Hypersensitive H2 sensor based on polymer planar Bragg gratings coated with Pt-loaded WO3-SiO2 JF - Optics Letters N2 - This letter demonstrates a novel hydrogen sensor based on a polymer planar Bragg grating coated with Pt-loaded WO3-SiO2. The reflected Bragg signal shows a distinct peak splitting correlated to substrate anisotropies originating from the injection molding process. Especially at low H2 concentrations, both sensing peaks exhibit an outstanding response to the heat generated by the exothermic reaction between hydrogen molecules and coating. Thereby, a hydrogen volume ratio of 50 ppm leads to a Bragg wavelength shift of -37 pm, which yields an outstandingly low detection limit of only 5 ppm H2 in air. Thus, functionalized polymer planar Bragg gratings are eminently suitable for H2 leak detection applications. KW - Bragg Grating Sensors KW - Hydrogen Detection KW - Cyclic Olefin Copolymers KW - Gassensor KW - Wasserstoff KW - Bragg-Reflektor Y1 - 2020 UR - https://www.osapublishing.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-45-13-3601 U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.395341 VL - 45 IS - 13 SP - 3601 EP - 3604 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Dai, Jixiang A1 - Yang, Minghong A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Hypersensitive H2 sensor based on polymer planar Bragg gratings coated with Pt-loaded WO3–SiO2: erratum N2 - We present an erratum to our Letter [Opt. Lett. 45, 3601 (2020)]. Labeling errors in two figures and an incorrect sentence are revised. The corrections have no influence on the conclusions of the original Letter. N2 - Erratum KW - Bragg Grating, Hydrogen Detection, Functionalization KW - Gassensor KW - Wasserstoff KW - Bragg-Reflektor Y1 - 2020 UR - https://www.osapublishing.org/ol/abstract.cfm?uri=ol-45-16-4498 U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.401819 VL - 45 IS - 16 SP - 4498 EP - 4498 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Bischoff, Kay A1 - Roth, Gian-Luca A1 - Haubner, Julian A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Tunable Bulk Polymer Planar Bragg Gratings Electrified via Femtosecond Laser Reductive Sintering of CuO Nanoparticles JF - Advanced Optical Materials N2 - This contribution demonstrates and discusses electrically tunable polymer planar Bragg gratings based on bulk cyclic olefin copolymers. A lithographic single-writing-step method and femtosecond laser reductive sintering of copper(II) oxide nanoparticles are subsequently employed in order to generate buried photonic structures and copper conducting paths on top of the polymer substrate. This way, the necessary number of process steps for fabricating a planar polymer-based electro-optical device is greatly reduced. The response of a fully electrified grating structure follows temperature changes, induced by the copper conducting path, with sensitivities up to −31 pm K−1. Dilatometric measurements show that the specimen's behavior is correlated to the situationally reduced thermal expansion of the bulk polymer substrate. In consequence, the tuning response of the photonic platform follows a second order polynomial, whereas a direct current of 30 mA, which correlates to a power consumption of 18.3 mW, leads to a local temperature increase and a residual Bragg wavelength shift of 19.6 K and −547 pm, respectively. Moreover, the outstanding flexibility of the proposed fabrication concept is underlined by demonstrating alternative conducting path geometries, whereas one of the additional designs is adapted to control the spectral width of the Bragg grating's reflection peak. KW - Bragg gratings KW - CuO nanoparticles KW - cyclic olefin copolymers KW - electro-optic tuning KW - integrated photonics KW - Femtosekundenlaser KW - Bragg-Reflektor Y1 - 2021 UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adom.202002203 U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202002203 VL - 9 IS - 13 SP - 2002203 EP - 2002203 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Zettl, Julian A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Esen, Cemal A1 - Hellmann, Ralf ED - Kling, Rainer ED - Pfleging, Wilhelm ED - Watanabe, Akira T1 - High-Precision Micromachining of Sapphire Towards Optical Waveguiding Structures using Femtosecond Lasers T2 - Laser-based Micro- and Nanoprocessing XVII N2 - While sapphire is one of the most durable materials, its properties entail that high-precision machining, especially in the sub-millimeter regime, is still challenging. This contribution demonstrates and discusses novel femtosecond laser-based micromachining approaches for the fabrication of rotational-symmetric sapphire workpieces, specifically the generation of optical fibers by means of laser lathe of sapphire rods and the practical realization of windmill fibers. In addition, volume refractive index modification in planar sapphire substrates is presented to induce photonic crystal waveguides. The micromachined structures are comprehensively examined with respect to geometric fidelity, surface roughness, refractive index modification, and potential optical waveguiding properties. All micromachining approaches are done by means of frequency-doubled or frequency-tripled femtosecond laser radiation. Different laser optical setups including laser scanning head, spatial beam profilers including a spatial light modulator and axial rotatory movement of the specimen are employed for micro structuring and in-depth refractive index modifications. In particular for laser lathe, a sophisticated scanning pattern, in combination with an incremental axial rotatory movement of the specimen, allows for the precise diameter reduction of sapphire rods with 250 µm diameter to fibers with outer diameters of 25 µm. By supporting the workpiece with a V-groove fixture, multi-mode fibers with lengths up to 20 cm can be processed with an average surface roughness of 250 nm. Additionally, an adapted ablation scanning sequence enables the first practical demonstration of sapphire windmill fibers. Furthermore, using a spatial light modulator allows for the adaption of the laser propagation properties as to enable volume refractive index modifications with free-form arrangement. Hexagonal patterns of refractive index modifications surrounding a pristine waveguide core are fabricated and single-mode waveguiding at 1550 nm is verified. Finally, the possibility of integrating Bragg gratings into this photonic waveguide type is demonstrated KW - sapphire KW - femtosecond laser KW - micromachining KW - laser lathe KW - rod-to-fiber KW - Femtosekundenlaser KW - Saphir Y1 - 2023 SN - 9781510659230 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2648758 SP - 3 EP - 11 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Pape, Dominik A1 - Roth, Gian-Luca A1 - Hessler, Steffen A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Micromilling-assisted fabrication of monolithic polymer ridge-type waveguides with integrated photonic sensing structures JF - Optical Materials Express N2 - This study demonstrates and discusses a novel approach for the fabrication and rapid prototyping of monolithic photonic platforms comprising a ridge-type waveguide with integrated sensing structures. First, the bulk injection-molded cyclic olefin copolymer substrates are micromilled in order to define the physical extension of the ridge structure. Cross-sections down to 30 × 30 µm2, exhibiting a mean surface roughness of 300 nm, are achieved with this process. Subsequently, UV radiation is used to modify the ridge structure’s refractive index, which leads to the formation of an optical waveguide. By employing a phase mask, it is possible to equip the photonic platform with a Bragg grating suitable for temperature measurements with a sensitivity of −5.1 pm K-1. Furthermore, an integrated Fabry-Pérot cavity, generated during the micromilling step as well, enables refractive index measurements with sensitivities up to 1154 nm RIU-1. KW - Cyclic Olefin Copolymers KW - Micromilling KW - Bragg Grating KW - Fabry-Pérot Etalon KW - Bragg-Reflektor KW - Optischer Sensor Y1 - 2021 UR - https://www.osapublishing.org/ome/fulltext.cfm?uri=ome-11-8-2389&id=453071 U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1364/OME.425778 VL - 11 IS - 8 SP - 2389 EP - 2400 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Bischoff, Kay A1 - Roth, Gian-Luca A1 - Haubner, Julian A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Tunable Bulk Polymer Planar Bragg Gratings Electrified via Femtosecond Laser Reductive Sintering of CuO Nanoparticles (Advanced Optical Materials 13/2021) N2 - This cover image outlines the fabrication method of a polymer planar Bragg grating electrified via femtosecond laser reductive sintering of CuO nanoparticles (see article number 2002203 by Stefan Kefer and co-workers). Based on this sophisticated methodology, bulk cyclic olefin copolymer substrates can be equipped with integrated photonic structures comprising a waveguide as well as a Bragg grating. Its reflective characteristics can be efficiently tuned by means of the subsequently generated Cu conducting path, whereas the applied femtosecond laser process enables an almost limitless degree of freedom towards conducting path geometries. N2 - Cover zum zugehörigen Artikel KW - Femtosekundenlaser KW - Bragg-Reflektor Y1 - 2021 UR - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adom.202170048 U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202170048 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Roth, Frederick A1 - Kaloudis, Michael A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Monitoring of Composite Bicycle Components using Polymer Planar Bragg Gratings T2 - SMSI 2021 - Sensors and Instrumentation N2 - This study demonstrates mobile load monitoring of a composite bicycle component using an application- customized polymer planar Bragg grating sensor, evaluated by a mobile interrogation unit. After a referencing procedure, the mechanical load of a seat post is monitored while cycling through a test track. KW - Bragg Grating KW - Composites KW - Cyclic Olefin Copolymers KW - Micromilling KW - Load Monitoring KW - Bragg-Reflektor KW - Verbundwerkstoff KW - Fahrrad Y1 - 2021 UR - https://www.ama-science.org/proceedings/details/3992 SN - 978-3-9819376-4-0 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5162/SMSI2021/B9.2 SP - 161 EP - 162 PB - AMA Service GmbH CY - Wunstorf, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Limbach, Tobias A1 - Pape, Natalie A1 - Klamt, Kathrin A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Birefringence in Injection-Molded Cyclic Olefin Copolymer Substrates and Its Impact on Integrated Photonic Structures JF - Polymers N2 - This contribution quantifies the birefringence within injection-molded cyclic olefin copolymer plates and discusses its impact on the mechanical properties of the plates. It also focuses on the impact of birefringence on integrated waveguides and Bragg gratings and provides fabrication guidelines for such structures. The anisotropy in all three dimensions of the workpiece is examined by means of polarimetry and a prism coupler. It is found that the birefringence is inhomogenously distributed within the workpieces, whereas the maximum birefringence not only varies locally, but also depends on the observation direction. Overall, a maximum birefringence of 10 × 10−4 is found at the plate’s surface near the injection gate. The anisotropy then reduces exponentially towards the center of the workpiece and saturates at 1.8 × 10−4, in a depth of 0.4 mm. Thus, the birefringence strongly affects near-surface photonic structures. It is found that, depending on their orientation and the local birefringence of the substrate, waveguides and Bragg gratings fabricated with comparable parameters behave completely differently in terms of polarization-dependent optical attenuation, cross-sectional intensity distribution and Bragg reflection signal. For example, the support of the TM mode can vary between total loss and an optical attenuation of 0.9 dB × cm−1. In consequence, this study underlines the importance of quantifying the birefringent state of an injection-molded cyclic olefin copolymer workpiece if it is supposed to serve as a substrate for integrated photonic structures. The study furthermore demonstrates that birefringence effects can be omitted by burying the photonic structures deeper into the volume of the thermoplastic. KW - cyclic olefin copolymer KW - birefringence KW - integrated photonics KW - Bragg grating KW - injection molding KW - Bragg-Reflektor KW - Wellenleiter KW - Doppelbrechung Y1 - 2024 UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/16/2/168 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16020168 VL - 16 IS - 2 SP - 168 EP - 168 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Pape, Natalie A1 - Gries, Nikola A1 - Roth, Gian-Luca A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - Towards Pressure Sensors Based on Polymer Planar Bragg Gratings T2 - Organic Photonic Materials and Devices XXV N2 - While Bragg grating-based optical devices have shown promising performances for pressure sensing applications, their sensitivity, especially in the low-pressure regime, is unsatisfying and needs to be optimized by elaborate designs, such as cantilevers or other extrinsic mechanical transducers. This contribution demonstrates and discusses a novel concept for optical pressure sensors based on polymer planar Bragg gratings. Waveguide and Bragg grating are fabricated underneath the surface of a temperature-stable and humidity-insensitive cyclic olefin copolymer substrate by means of a femtosecond laser. Based on the employed direct-writing procedure, in combination with adaptive, in-situ beam shaping with a spatial light modulator, writing depth, i.e., location of the photonic structures within the substrate, as well as Bragg grating periodicity and positioning can be deliberately chosen. Afterwards, the polymer substrate is post-processed with a high-precision micro mill, so a diaphragm comprising the integrated photonic structures is generated. The resulting diaphragm exhibits a thickness of 300 µm and a diameter of 10 mm. Finally, the optical sensor is packaged and sealed to form an air-filled gas pocket underneath the diaphragm. Deformations of the diaphragm by external pressure changes translate to strain variations along the waveguide axis and thus perturb the Bragg grating period. This leads to changes in the grating’s wavelength of main reflection, which can be evaluated in order to quantify the relative external pressure. With this straightforward optical sensor concept, pressure sensitivities up to 39 pm kPa-1, within relative pressures ranges from 78 kPa to 372 kPa, are achieved. KW - Bragg grating KW - pressure sensor KW - integrated photonics KW - cyclic olefin copolymers KW - femtosecond laser KW - Bragg-Reflektor KW - Drucksensor Y1 - 2023 SN - 9781510659414 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2648723 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Voigt, Jorrit A1 - Bock, Thomas A1 - Hilpert, Uwe A1 - Hellmann, Ralf A1 - Möckel, Michael T1 - Increased relative density and characteristic melt pool Signals at the edge in PBF-LB/M JF - Additive Manufacturing N2 - Limited process control can cause metallurgical defect formation and inhomogeneous relative density in laser powder bed fusion manufactured parts. This study shows that process monitoring, based on optical melt-pool signal analysis is capable of tracing relative density variations: Unsupervised machine learning, applied to cluster multiple-slice monitoring data, reveals characteristic patterns in this noisy time-series signal, which can be co-registered with geometrical positions in the build part. For cylindrical 15–5 PH stainless steel specimens, manufactured under constant process parameters and post-analyzed by µ-computer tomography, correlations between such patterns and an increased local relative density at the edge have been observed. Finite element method (FEM) modeling of thermal histories at exemplary positions close to the edge suggest pre-heating effects caused by neighboring laser scan trajectories as possible reasons for the increased melt pool intensity at the edge. KW - Maschinelles Lernen KW - Schmelze Y1 - 2022 UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214860422001993?via%3Dihub U6 - https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2022.102798 VL - 2022 IS - 57/102798 SP - * EP - * ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Kefer, Stefan A1 - Schmauss, Bernhard A1 - Hellmann, Ralf T1 - POLYMER PLANAR BRAGG GRATINGS BASED ON BULK CYCLIC OLEFIN COPOLYMERS: FABRICATION AND FUNCTIONALIZATION T2 - Proceedings of Student Conference on Sensors, Systems and Measurement 2021 KW - Bragg-Reflektor Y1 - 2021 UR - https://scssm.fel.cvut.cz/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Proceedings-SCSSM-2021.pdf SN - 978-80-01-06822-9 ER -