The LUMERA LASER application lab is well equipped. Experienced personnel runs experiments with picosecond lasers at various wavelengths in machining systems with x-y-z stages, galvo beam steering and vision control for precise positioning of the work piece. Sophisticated diagnostic tools are accessible. Please describe your task, your performance criteria, and send your material sample! Lasers are attractive manufacturing tools because they offer precision, speed and versatility, software controlled processes, and non-touch technology without force to the work piece and wear of the tool.
Picosecond laser pulses achieve this new quality of micromachining because the short pulses with their high peak power density remove the material before thermal diffusion with undesirable side effects occur. If a picosecond laser pulse is appropriately focused onto any material surface it will remove a material layer of the order of 10 nm in a basically non-thermal process. The remaining material will not be heated; it will not develop micro cracks, burrs, or recast. Appropriately means that the energy density in the focus of a picosecond laser pulse (~10 ps) is close above the threshold (in order of 1 J/cm2) for this cold ablation process. An economic throughput is guaranteed due to the high repetition rate of LUMERA LASER picosecond laser systems of up to 1 MHz.
Removal rates for various materials can be found below the photos.
Picosecond lasers microstructure (groove, cut, drill, micromill, etc.) virtually any material with:
- no thermal side-effects such as microcracks, burrs, or recast
- lateral features as small as a few um
- depth control in the order of 10 nm
- pulses-on-demand for easy integration into delivery systems
Examples for industrial picosecond laser micromachining can include:Drilling small apertures or structures (for electrical, bio-medical or fluidic devices) into difficult machinable materials micro-milling tiny moulds
- structuring the surface of engine cylinder walls or turbines for lower friction
- Edge deletion
- machining thermally sensitive materials (layers on semicon or solar components, or stents made of memory material with pharmaceutical coatings, organic lasers in electronic etc.) - thin film processing
- rounding hard metal tool edges for better cutting quality and longer life
- cutting or repairing masks for processes in the semiconductor, display or OLED technology
- structuring solar cells - photovoltaics
- making or repairing of lithographic masks
- fuse blowing for memory repair etc.
We offer a limited applications lab service where we will quick-shoot a sample for you with a picosecond laser at no cost, assuming it appears reasonable to do that. Generally, metal samples should be 1 mm or thinner. If you call, or email us describing your needs, we can generally give you some guidance right away from history. If we do the free test, we will have the lab drill a few holes, make a few cuts, etc., so that you can learn the removal rate and see first hand the kind of quality (no heat affected zone, etc.) we can provide with a ps-laser. In this first-blush test, to keep the costs down, we will not especially concern ourselves with taper and other such issues.
We can demonstrate feasibility, check potential throughput, develop production strategies and support the design of manufacturing tools and help to find the best system maker for your application.
We also offer to job shop small batches of your parts.
If you wish to send us such a sample, be sure to send along with it the proper instructions for the apps lab manager. This should include advice on what wavelength, rep rate, spot size, energy, beam quality, etc., has worked on the material, and an explanation or drawing of what a successful test will be. That is, if you want only a micron or even just a nanometer of material removed, you need to tell us that.
We are not pretending that this quick test will end with a definitive answer. It surely will not. Whatever results we achieve will be something that can be enhanced considerably with the proper process engineering studies to find the right gas assist, the right nozzles, the right rep rate, energy level, etc. As you likely can appreciate, this takes considerable time in the lab.
If you desire, you may contract for a more serious process engineering study. For this service, we charge 1500 Euros per day. You may be at the apps lab witnessing the tests if you so desire.
Samples can be shot in the applications lab at Lumera. Please send us an email to picoseconds@rpmclasers.com.
Click here to see Lumera's Picosecond Lasers
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