Periodic Reporting for period 4 - PULSE (High-Power Ultrafast LaSErs using Tapered Double-Clad Fibre)
Reporting period: 2023-01-01 to 2024-03-31
The adoption of laser processing technologies for manufacturing provide the ability to process components with good repeatability, restricted heat and minimal distortion on all high-volume production environments. However, widespread adoption will reply on the development of higher power laser solutions at lower cost than existing technologies in order to revolutionise industrial processes in terms of speed, quality and reduced material and environmental costs.
The benefits of such developments to the EU will come in the form of faster more economic production, reduced use of harmful chemicals such as those used for chemical etching and securing high-value jobs in manufacturing via globally competitive production processes.
A very high average power kW laser providing ultra-short pulses with excellent beam quality will be developed and brought to the market at highly competitive costs enabling widespread industrial uptake.
By harnessing the unique characteristics of patent protected tapered double-clad fiber amplifiers power-scaled multichannel laser, unparalleled high-power beam qualities, M2<1.1 and pulse energies of 2.5-250µJ will be achieved.
Using state-of-the-art highly stable laser diodes as seed lasers allowing parameter flexibility by ultrafast electrical control of pulse duration and repetition rate will enable a broad range of high-power laser processing application requirements to be met.
An extremely stable advanced all-fiber based configuration allow development of a compact ultrashort pulse laser system. A newly-designed delivery fiber utilising cutting-edge technology of high purity glass material fabrication will be used to capable of handling the very high-power ultrashort pulses, preserving beam quality over several meters distance.
Pioneering technology based on 3D nano-imprint lithography will be exploited to for advanced beam shaping elements to elongate voxels. Together these will provide laser pulse delivery via patented polygon scanner technology capable of handling high-power pulses at speeds of up to 1.5 km/s.
These will enable demonstration in automotive and renewable energy sectors of ultrafast 3D ablation, low-thermal welding of dissimilar metals and faster cost-effective cutting of ultra-hard materials. Exploitation in the form of high-power laser processing systems will immediately follow, benefitting from the unmatched performance data and detailed cost benefit and investment case analysis performed.
The benefits of such developments to the EU will come in the form of faster more economic production, reduced use of harmful chemicals such as those used for chemical etching and securing high-value jobs in manufacturing via globally competitive production processes.
A very high average power kW laser providing ultra-short pulses with excellent beam quality will be developed and brought to the market at highly competitive costs enabling widespread industrial uptake.
By harnessing the unique characteristics of patent protected tapered double-clad fiber amplifiers power-scaled multichannel laser, unparalleled high-power beam qualities, M2<1.1 and pulse energies of 2.5-250µJ will be achieved.
Using state-of-the-art highly stable laser diodes as seed lasers allowing parameter flexibility by ultrafast electrical control of pulse duration and repetition rate will enable a broad range of high-power laser processing application requirements to be met.
An extremely stable advanced all-fiber based configuration allow development of a compact ultrashort pulse laser system. A newly-designed delivery fiber utilising cutting-edge technology of high purity glass material fabrication will be used to capable of handling the very high-power ultrashort pulses, preserving beam quality over several meters distance.
Pioneering technology based on 3D nano-imprint lithography will be exploited to for advanced beam shaping elements to elongate voxels. Together these will provide laser pulse delivery via patented polygon scanner technology capable of handling high-power pulses at speeds of up to 1.5 km/s.
These will enable demonstration in automotive and renewable energy sectors of ultrafast 3D ablation, low-thermal welding of dissimilar metals and faster cost-effective cutting of ultra-hard materials. Exploitation in the form of high-power laser processing systems will immediately follow, benefitting from the unmatched performance data and detailed cost benefit and investment case analysis performed.
The laser generator can vaporise metals and can move the laser beam across materials to be processed at speeds greater than 1,000 km/second. This means the core tapered fiber technology underpinning the PULSE system has been realised with excellent results and the work to combine multiple lasers has started.
Seed lasers, which determine how short and frequent the laser pulses from the system, have been developed and successfully tested for stable operation over a period of several thousand hours with the new pulse amplifying technology delivering 500W from a single fiber amplifier have been developed.
A tuneable semiconductor seed laser has demonstrated pulses can be generated at a rate of up to one billion pulses per second.
An ultra-fast beam scanner has been manufactured and tested, using a pilot laser, to successfully verify the specified scan area and scan speed.
Novel materials which combine the properties of plastics to be moulded and formed with the optical qualities of glass have opened the door to novel micro-optical components with high optical transparency, the ability to withstand high laser powers and precision shapes and features. These new materials can be used to shape laser beams into exotic beam profiles which could provide new capabilities for laser driven processes.
The laser processing demonstrations for automotive manufacture will centre on the Fiat 500, producing new dashboard injection moulded parts and cutting steel elements of the chassis.
The results and knowledge generated by the project are valuable, with two new patents now filed. One is for special optical materials developed by FORTH which do not get overheated and damaged by high-power lasers and can be used for fabrication of micro-optical elements. The second is to protect the new results by Ampliconyx regarding the tapered fiber qualities to generate high quality laser light.
Seed lasers, which determine how short and frequent the laser pulses from the system, have been developed and successfully tested for stable operation over a period of several thousand hours with the new pulse amplifying technology delivering 500W from a single fiber amplifier have been developed.
A tuneable semiconductor seed laser has demonstrated pulses can be generated at a rate of up to one billion pulses per second.
An ultra-fast beam scanner has been manufactured and tested, using a pilot laser, to successfully verify the specified scan area and scan speed.
Novel materials which combine the properties of plastics to be moulded and formed with the optical qualities of glass have opened the door to novel micro-optical components with high optical transparency, the ability to withstand high laser powers and precision shapes and features. These new materials can be used to shape laser beams into exotic beam profiles which could provide new capabilities for laser driven processes.
The laser processing demonstrations for automotive manufacture will centre on the Fiat 500, producing new dashboard injection moulded parts and cutting steel elements of the chassis.
The results and knowledge generated by the project are valuable, with two new patents now filed. One is for special optical materials developed by FORTH which do not get overheated and damaged by high-power lasers and can be used for fabrication of micro-optical elements. The second is to protect the new results by Ampliconyx regarding the tapered fiber qualities to generate high quality laser light.
The key to PULSE’s competitive, low-cost laser technology is the unique shape of the material used to generate the powerful laser beam. By tapering the shape of the fiber material, which is typically 3-4 metres in length and is made up of a number of thin layers around a central core unique high-power performance is made possible. The effect of tapering the fiber is to allow very low-cost light sources (similar to high efficiency light bulbs) to be used to power the laser and the light energy is converted into very high-quality pulsed laser light which is essential for ultrafast and precision material processing. The research findings included identifiying the benefits in terms of beam quality achievable by not only tapering but also twsting the fiber. This was key to reaching the necessary beam quality to enable coherent beam combiing.
By developing new beam combiing approaches to combine the laser beams from multiples of these powerful sources and synchronising the pulse patterns lasers with kW average power capabilities far beyond what is currently available have been realised.
With such enormous power it is essential that a means of moving the laser beam very quickly across the materials or surfaces being processed is available. PULSE developed an advanced scanner with the ability to direct the laser pulses at speeds of more than 1,000 km/second. This exceptional speed was demonstrated in the engraving of injection moulds for complex automotive surfaces.
An advanced laser processing tool with unique capabilities to use kW level USP lasers to process at the macro-scale with micro-scale precision was developed to evidence the potential of high-power ultrafast laser processing.
These new technologies will ultimately be demonstrated in automotive applications to produce new tactile injection moulded parts by laser texturing the surface of the moulds which can eliminate the harmful chemicals used in existing chemical etching.
The welding of thermally conductive copper pipes to aluminium sheets for solar thermal absorbers used in renewable energy systems can also be carried out using these lasers at significantly higher speeds than existing laser welding systems.
Together these results will allow PULSE to develop an unparalleled complete laser system with unparalleled output power and speed for advanced manufacturing.
By developing new beam combiing approaches to combine the laser beams from multiples of these powerful sources and synchronising the pulse patterns lasers with kW average power capabilities far beyond what is currently available have been realised.
With such enormous power it is essential that a means of moving the laser beam very quickly across the materials or surfaces being processed is available. PULSE developed an advanced scanner with the ability to direct the laser pulses at speeds of more than 1,000 km/second. This exceptional speed was demonstrated in the engraving of injection moulds for complex automotive surfaces.
An advanced laser processing tool with unique capabilities to use kW level USP lasers to process at the macro-scale with micro-scale precision was developed to evidence the potential of high-power ultrafast laser processing.
These new technologies will ultimately be demonstrated in automotive applications to produce new tactile injection moulded parts by laser texturing the surface of the moulds which can eliminate the harmful chemicals used in existing chemical etching.
The welding of thermally conductive copper pipes to aluminium sheets for solar thermal absorbers used in renewable energy systems can also be carried out using these lasers at significantly higher speeds than existing laser welding systems.
Together these results will allow PULSE to develop an unparalleled complete laser system with unparalleled output power and speed for advanced manufacturing.