Managing residual heat effects in femtosecond laser material processing by pulse-on-demand operation

Petelin, Jaka (author), Marš, Matevž (author), Mur, Jaka (author), Petkovšek, Rok (author)

Femtosecond laser processing combines highly accurate structuring with low residual heating of materials, low thermal damage, and nonlinear absorption processes, making it suitable for the machining of transparent brittle materials. However, with high average powers and laser pulse repetition rates, residual heating becomes relevant. Here, we present a study of the femtosecond laser pulse-on-demand operation regime, combined with regular scanners, aiming to improve throughput and quality of processing regardless of the scanner’s capabilities. We developed two methods to define the needed pulse-on-demand trigger sequences that compensate for the initial accelerating scanner movements. The effects of pulse-on-demand operation were studied in detail using direct process monitoring with a fast thermal camera and indirect process monitoring with optical and topographical surface imaging of final structures, both showing clear advantages of pulse-on-demand operation in precision, thermal effects, and structure shape control. The ability to compensate for irregular scanner movement is the basis for simplified, cheaper, and faster femtosecond laser processing of brittle and heat-susceptible materials.

• Language: English
• Keywords: femtosecond lasers, laser microstructuring, pulse-on-demand, glass cutting
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: 11 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 8, no. 6, art. 254
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-164838
• UDC: 535
• ISSN on article: 2504-4494
• DOI: 10.3390/jmmp8060254
• COBISS.SI-ID: 214843395
• Publication date in RUL: 13.11.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Journal of manufacturing and materials processing
• Shortened title: J. manuf. mater. process.
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2504-4494
• COBISS.SI-ID: 21628182

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: femtosekundni laserji, lasersko mikrostrukturiranje, pulzi na zahtevo, rezanje stekla