For silicon machined with 10 ps pulses at 1064nm it was found that the specific removal rate increases by a factor of about 2.5 when an 8-pulse burst is used instead of single pulses [1]. This increase in the specific removal rate directly scales with a higher surface roughness.
For copper and a 3-pulse burst the absorptance of a machined surface increases to about 200% of the one obtained with single pulses [2]. This can serve as an explanation for the higher specific removal rate observed in this case [3]. Actual calorimetric measurements on silicon show that the fraction of the incoming energy which is converted to heat is almost independent on the number of pulses per burst (a behavior which was observed for copper too) and the absorptance depends on the number of pulses. However, as the observed variations in the absorptance are only in the order of a few % and do not monotonically increase with the number of pulses per burst the change in the absorptance cannot explain the increase in the specific removal rate for pulse bursts on silicon. Additional experiments including calorimetry with varying intra-burst time differences and pulse energies as well as experiments concerning reflectivity and transmission will help to understand this behavior of silicon.
[1] B. Jaeggi, D.J. Förster, B. Neuenschwander, OSA Technical Digest, CLEO (2018), AM1M.3
[2] B. Jaeggi, D. J. Foerster, R. Weber, B. Neuenschwander, Adv. Opt. Techn. 7, 175 (2018)
[3] B. Neuenschwander, B. Jaeggi, D.J. Foerster, Th. Kramer, S. Remund, to be published in Proc. of ICALEO (2018)
The resulting surface roughness and waviness after processing with ultra-short pulsed laser radiation depend on the laser parameters as well as on the machining strategy and the scanning system. However the results depend on the material and its initial surface quality and finishing as well. The improvement of surface finishing represents effort and produces additional costs. For industrial applications it is important to reduce the preparation of a workpiece for laser micro-machining to optimize quality and reduce costs.
The effects of the ablation process and the influence of the machining strategy and scanning system onto the surface roughness and waviness can be differenced due to their separate manner. By using the optimal laser parameters on an initially perfect surface, the ablation process mainly increases the roughness to a certain value for most metallic materials. However, imperfections in the scanning system causing a slight variation in the scanning speed lead to a raise of the waviness on the sample surface.
For a basic understanding of the influence of grinding marks, the sample surfaces were initially furnished with regular grooves of different depths and spatial frequencies to gain a homogenous and well-defined original surface. On these surfaces the effect of different beam waists and machining strategy are investigated and the results are compared with a simulation of the process. Furthermore the behaviors of common surface finishes used in industrial applications for laser micro-machining are studied and the relation onto the resulting surface roughness and waviness is presented.
To be competitive in industrial applications the throughput is a key factor in laser micro machining using ultra-short pulsed laser systems. Both, ps and fs laser systems are suitable for industrial applications. Therefore one has to choose the right pulse duration for highest ablation efficiency. As shown in earlier publications the efficiency of the ablation process can be described by the specific removal rate, which has a maximum value at an optimum fluence. But its value often bases on a calculation using the threshold fluence and energy penetration depth deduced by measuring the depth of ablated cavities machined with different fluences and number of pulses. But this calculated specific removal rate often differs from the one deduced from ablated squares as recently shown in literature. Further an unexpected drop of the specific removal rate was reported for stainless steel when the pulse duration was reduced from 900 fs to 400 fs. Thus the influence of the pulse duration in the fs and low ps regime onto the specific removal rate is investigated with different methods for industrial relevant materials
The burst mode for ps and fs pulses for steel and copper is investigated. It is found that the reduction of the energy in a single pulse (in the burst) represents the main factor for the often reported gain in the removal rate using the burst mode e.g. for steel no investigated burst sequence lead to a higher removal rate compared to single pulses at higher repetition rate. But for copper a situation was found where the burst mode leads to a real increase of the removal rate in the range of 20%. Further the burst mode offers the possibility to generate slightly melted flat surfaces with good optical properties in the case of steel. Temperature simulations indicate that the surface state during the burst mode could be responsible for the melting effect or the formation of cavities in clusters which reduces the surface quality.
Conventional joining techniques like press fitting or crimping require the application of mechanical forces to the parts which, in combination with the tolerances of both parts to be joined, lead to imprecision and poor tensile strength. In contrast, laser beam micro welding provides consistent joining and high flexibility and it acts as an alternative as long as press fitting, crimping, screwing or gluing are not capable of batch production. Different parts and even different metals can be joined in a non-contact process at feed rates of up to 60 m/min and with weld seam lengths from 0.6 mm to 15.7 mm. Due to the low energy input, typically 1 J to 6 J, a weld width as small as 50 μm and a weld depth as small as 20 μm have been attained. This results in low distortion of the joined watch components. Since the first applications of laser beam micro welding of watch components showed promising results, the process has further been enhanced using the SHADOW technique. Aspects of the technique such as tensile strength, geometry and precision of the weld seam as well as the acceptance amongst the -mostly conservative- watch manufacturers have been improved.
The new welding technique 'SHADOW ' is introduced. SHADOW means the use of a single pulse to generate a quasi continuous weld of several millimeters in length. HET processing time is defined by the pulse duration of the pulsed laser. At present, a state-of-the-art laser is capable of a maximum pulse duration of 20 ms. The variation of the laser power depend on time is a vital capability of the pulsed laser to adapt the energy deposition into the workpiece. Laser beam welds of several watch components were successfully performed. Similar metals like crowns and axes made out of stainless steel have been welded using pulsed laser radiation. Applying a series of about 130 single pulses for the crown-axis combination the total energy accumulates to 19.5 J. The use of the SHADOW welding technique reduces the energy to 2.5 J. While welding dissimilar metals like stainless steel and bras, the SHADOW welding reduces drastically the contamination as well as the distortion. Laser beam welding of copper has a low process reliability due to the high reflection and the high thermal conductivity. SHADOW welds of 3.6 mm length were performed on 250 micrometers thick copper plates with very high reproducibility. As a result, a pilot plant for laser beam welding of copper plates has been set up. The work to be presented has partly been funded by the European Commission in a project under the contract BRPR-CT-0634.
After the invention of the laser principle and its first application for drilling of jewels in watch movements, the laser was only used for marking. The still ongoing trend of miniaturization and automation opened a new field of application: laser beam micro welding. This paper gives an overview of the new application of laser beam welding in watch industry. The combination of dissimilar materials like brass and stainless steel is often needed in watch movements due to tribologic aspects. Here, laser beam micro welding offers an alternative to conventional joining techniques like press fit or gluing. Since the watch components are very small the locally limited heat input of the laser beam offers the possibility of weld seam widths < 200 micrometers . The depth and the width of the closed weld seam as well as the surface quality can be influenced especially at the end of the seam using the pulse forming capability of a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. Several watch components could be joined by means of laser beam micro welding. The width of the seam could be reduced to 100-200 micrometers . The joining geometries of an axis/wheel combination are in the range of 100 micrometers to 1 mm diameter of the axis and about 200 micrometers wheel thickness. The process of laser beam micro welding could be integrated in a fully automated assembly machine for watch movement parts. This paper will give an overview about some results of a European research project where the welding of microparts was investigated. The aim was to decrease contamination and distortion of the parts during the mending process. The work to be presented has been funded by the European Commission in a project under the contract BRPR-CT- 0634.
The production of microsystems and miniaturized devices often requires joining technologies, which meet the demands of ultra clean manufacturing. Especially for optical and medical products low pollution and distortion joining processes are necessary to guarantee the quality and the function of the device. For this applications laser welding with fiber lasers at laser powers of up to P = 10 W and focus dimensions < 30 micrometers have been used for welding micro mechanical devices. At intensities I > 106W/cm2 welding depths of 100 micrometers can be achieved with minimized pollution of the parts and smooth and clean appearance of the surface of the welds. For joining polymers and dissimilar materials high power diode lasers have been used providing even better conditions regarding pollution of the joining partners. By using material adapted laser wavelengths the heating of the material can be concentrated to the inner joining area of an overlap material joint. With this technique, thermoplastic polymer compounds and silicon glass compounds have been joined with low temperature and no influence on the quality of the parts with joining widths of less that 100 micrometers .
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.