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We report on ultraviolet ultrashort pulsed laser processing of silicon carbide. Laser ablated cavities are evaluated with respect to their ablation rates, surface roughness and overall quality by varying the laser pulse fluence. Using this type of laser, high edge quality and surface roughness down to 107 nm can be achieved with an ablation efficiency of up to 0.228 mm 3 W −1 min −1. Functional surfaces are produced by generating laser induced periodic surface structures. The comparison with infrared wavelength underlines the advantages of the ultraviolet wavelength for laser micro machining this material. Significant differences with respect to the measured ablation depths and roughness as well as generated micro-and nanostructures appear. While infrared ablation is dominated by a chipping mechanism above a critical fluence of 9.93 Jcm −2 , higher ablation rates are observed with strong quality losses at the same time. In comparison to the infrared emission wavelength, in general , a significantly higher processing quality is achieved with the ultraviolet emission wavelength. In addition, the influence of spot size and repetition rate in UV processing is investigated. By increasing these parameters, a process acceleration without quality losses is enabled. The generation of a sophisticated microstructure exemplifies the advantages of processing silicon carbide with the UV laser reported here.
We report on the acceleration of femtosecond reductive laser sintering of copper (II) oxide on the surface of transparent cyclic olefin copolymers (COC) by varying the focus size to generate metallic copper (Cu) layers. By using different focusing conditions, different process speeds are achieved, and the structural accuracies are controlled. The formation of Cu lines is observed for different focus sizes at various scan speeds, which is attributed to laser exposure duration and chemical reaction time. The formed lines are categorized and measured by optical microscopy and provide the basis for two-dimensional Cu surfaces. By hatching, high quality conductive films are produced with an increased focus diameter of up to 400 µm at a scan speed of 400 mm/s and a hatch distance of 250 µm resulting in a multiple increased process speed by a factor of thirteen compared to previous research. Using 4-tip measurement , a low sheet resistance of 0.165 Ω/sq was validated on these Cu films, which have an atomic Cu content of 89.5%.
This contribution demonstrates and discusses the preparation of finely dispersed copper(II) oxide nanosuspensions as precursors for reductive laser sintering (RLS). Since the presence of agglomerates interferes with the various RLS sub-processes, fine dispersion is required, and oversized particles must be identified by a measurement methodology. Aside from the established method of scanning electron microscopy for imaging individual dried particles, this work applies the holistic and statistically more significant laser diffraction in combination with dynamic image analysis in wet dispersion. In addition to direct ultrasonic homogenization, high-energy ball milling is introduced for RLS, to produce stable nanosuspensions with a high fine fraction, and, above all, the absence of oversize particles. Whereas ultrasonic dispersion stagnates at particle sizes between 500 nm and 20 μm, even after 8 h, milled suspension contains a high proportion of finest particles with diameters below 100 nm, no agglomerates larger than 1 μm and a trimodal particle size distribution with the median at 50 nm already, after 100 min of milling. The precursor layers produced by doctor blade coating are examined for their quality by laser scanning microscopy. The surface roughness of such a dry film can be reduced from 1.26 μm to 88 nm by milling. Finally, the novel precursor is used for femtosecond RLS, to produce homogeneous, high-quality copper layers with a sheet resistance of 0.28 Ω/sq and a copper mass concentration of 94.2%.
We report on the laser ablation of cyclic olefin copolymer using an amplified ultrashort pulsed laser in the ultraviolet spectral range. In addition to a high ablation depth per laser-structured layer up to 74 μm at a fluence of 22 J cm−2, an excellent mean roughness 𝑅𝑎
of laser-patterned surfaces down to 0.5 μm is demonstrated. Furthermore, with increasing fluence, increasing ablation efficiencies up to 2.5 mm3 W−1 min−1 are determined. Regarding the quality of the ablation, we observed steep ablation flanks and low debris formation, though for fluences above 10.5 J cm−2 the formation of troughs was observed, being attributed to multiple reflections on the ablation flanks. For comparison, laser ablation was performed under identical conditions with an infrared laser wavelength. The results highlight that UV ablation exhibits significant advantages in terms of ablation efficiency, surface roughness and quality. Moreover, our results show that a larger UV focus spot accelerates the ablation process with comparable quality, paving the way for high-power UV ultrashort pulsed lasers towards an efficient and qualitative tool for the laser machining of cyclic olefin copolymer. The production of complex microfluidics further underlines the suitability of this type of laser.
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
Sapphire is a robust and wear-resistant material. However, efficient and high-quality micromachining is still a challenge. This contribution demonstrates and discusses two novels, previously unreported approaches for femtosecond laser-based micromachining of rotational-symmetric sapphire workpieces, whereas both methods are in principal hybrids of laser scanning and laser turning or laser lathe. The first process, a combination of a sequential linear hatch pattern in parallel to the workpiece’s main axis with a defined incremental workpiece rotation, enables the fabrication of sapphire fibers with diameters of 50 µm over a length of 4.5 mm. Furthermore, sapphire specimens with a diameter of 25 µm over a length of 2 mm can be fabricated whereas an arithmetical mean height, i.e., Sa parameter, of 281 nm is achieved. The second process combines a constant workpiece feed and orthogonal scanning with incremental workpiece rotation. With this approach, workpiece length limitations of the first process are overcome and sapphire fibers with an average diameter of 90 µm over a length of 20 cm are manufactured. Again, the sapphire specimen exhibits a comparable surface roughness with an average Sa value of 249 nm over 20 cm. Based on the obtained results, the proposed manufacturing method paves an innovative and flexible, all laser-based way towards the fabrication or microstructuring of sapphire optical devices, and thus, a promising alternative to chemical processes.
Abstract: This contribution demonstrates photonic crystal waveguides generated within bulk planar sapphire substrates. A femtosecond laser is used to modify the refractive index in a hexagonal pattern around the pristine waveguide core. Near-field measurements reveal single-mode behavior at a wavelength of 1550 nm and the possibility to adapt the mode-field diameter. Based on farfield examinations, the effective refractive index contrast between the pristine waveguide core and depressed cladding is estimated to 3x10-4. Additionally, Bragg gratings are generated within the waveguide core. Due to the inherent birefringence of Al2O3, the gratings exhibit two distinct wavelengths of main reflection. Each reflection peak exhibits a narrow spectral full width at a half maximum of 130 pm and can be selectively addressed by exciting the birefringent waveguide with appropriately polarized light. Furthermore, a waveguide attenuation of 1 dB cm-1 is determined.
We report on a comprehensive micromachining study of rotationally symmetric parts using femtosecond laser. A
laser turning process with tangential impingement of the laser radiation complemented by a trepanning optics is
implemented as to accomplish a true laser lathe micromachining approach. With the objective of optimized
ablation rate and reduced surface roughness, the influence of pulse energy, feed rate, trepanning diameter and
angular beam incidence, respectively, is investigated for processing stellite rods. We find the smallest feasible
feature sizes of 8.5 μm in diameter and smoothest surfaces with an arithmetic average of the roughness profile as
low as 0.18 μm. The surface roughness, however, appears to be limited by the occurrence of laser induced periodic
surface structures provoked by the femtosecond laser radiation. Furthermore, the variation of the fluence
in accordance to the incidence on a curved surface is discussed and the heat input into the material is examined
through a longitudinal cross section.