Product Code: ICA13_M807

Processing Various Sensible High-Tech Materials with Short and Ultra-Short Pulsed Disc Laser Sources
Authors:
Markus Roehner, Jenoptik Laser GmbH; Jena Germany
Susanna Friedel, Jenoptik Laser Gmbh; Jena Germany
Bert Kremser, Jenotik Laser GmbH; Jena Germany
Klaus Stolberg, Jenoptik Laser Gmbh; Jena Germany
Ewa Ziolkowski, Jenotik Laser GmbH; Jena Germany
Presented at ICALEO 2013

This presentation gives a brief overview about new applications with high power disc lasers in the ns- and fs-range.

Ultra-short-pulsed lasers become more and more important in the recent years. Due to their huge peak power in combination with the ultra short pulse length these lasers became the perfect tool for processing thin materials (thickness below than 100µm) and for heat sensitive applications. Especially for cutting bioabsorbable polymer stents fs-lasers with a pulse length of less than 450fs are necessary in order to avoid heat affected areas or burr/dross at the cutting edges. Also the use of a green instead of a IR laser beam will improve the processing quality but not in the same way like with ps- or ns-lasers. The improvement comes more from the ability to get a smaller focus size.

Beside these so-called cold applications there are a numbers of applications requiring high pulse energy. Especially for hard materials like diamond or SiC but also for brittle materials like CFRP ps or ns-lasers with a high peak power can have significant advantages in quality and processing speed. But the major key for a successful application is the very good understanding of the heat distribution and management. By optimizing pulse duration and repetition rate in combination with the appropriate power the processing results are nearly dross free and do not show any heat affected zones.