Pulse-on-demand operation for precise high-speed UV laser microstructuring

Kočica, Jernej Jan (author), Mur, Jaka (author), Didierjean, Julien (author), Guillossou, Arnaud (author), Saby, Julien (author), Petelin, Jaka (author), Mincuzzi, Girolamo (author), Petkovšek, Rok (author)

Laser microstructuring has been studied extensively in the last decades due to its versatile, contactless processing and outstanding precision and structure quality on a wide range of materials. A limitation of the approach has been identified in the utilization of high average laser powers, with scanner movement fundamentally limited by laws of inertia. In this work, we apply a nanosecond UV laser working in an intrinsic pulse-on-demand mode, ensuring maximal utilization of the fastest commercially available galvanometric scanners at scanning speeds from 0 to 20 m/s. The effects of high-frequency pulse-on-demand operation were analyzed in terms of processing speeds, ablation efficiency, resulting surface quality, repeatability, and precision of the approach. Additionally, laser pulse duration was varied in single-digit nanosecond pulse durations and applied to high throughput microstructuring. We studied the effects of scanning speed on pulse-on-demand operation, single- and multipass laser percussion drilling performance, surface structuring of sensitive materials, and ablation efficiency for pulse durations in the range of 1–4 ns. We confirmed the pulse-on-demand operation suitability for microstructuring for a range of frequencies from below 1 kHz to 1.0 MHz with 5 ns timing precision and identified the scanners as the limiting factor even at full utilization. The ablation efficiency was improved with longer pulse durations, but structure quality degraded.

• Language: English
• Keywords: fiber lasers, UV lasers, nanosecond lasers, pulse-on-demand, material processing
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2023
• Number of pages: 11 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 14, iss. 4, art. 843
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-145314
• UDC: 535:621.7+621.9
• ISSN on article: 2072-666X
• DOI: 10.3390/mi14040843
• COBISS.SI-ID: 149330179
• Publication date in RUL: 17.04.2023

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Micromachines
• Shortened title: Micromachines
• Publisher: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)
• ISSN: 2072-666X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 523276825

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: vlakenski laserji, UV laserji, nanosekundni laserji, pulzi na zahtevo, obdelava materialov

Projects

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: P2-0270
• Name: Proizvodni sistemi, laserske tehnologije in spajanje materialov

• Funder: ARRS - Slovenian Research Agency
• Project number: L2-3171
• Name: Generacija ultrakratkih laserskih pulzov za zelo hitro in visoko prilagodljivo vzporedno mikro-procesiranje