Project description
Superfast lasers make very tiny patterns on very large structures
Creating 3D patterns on surfaces changes their properties and the way they interact with other materials. Ultrafast lasers are proving particularly promising in this realm. Surface features on scales from nanometre to millimetre sizes can be controlled to fine-tune functionality and performance in numerous applications from aerospace to biomedicine with particular interest in wettability, attraction and repelling. The EU-funded FemtoSurf project has a bold idea for these tiny patterns. The team is developing the technology to enable the simultaneous yet individual control of up to multi-beam of ultrafast laser light for surface patterning. When integrated into an automated industrial setup, the system will enable patterning at the micrometre scale in components exceeding several metres in length.
Objective
The tremendous success of lasers in industry resulted in massive demand for photonics-based solutions. At the moment lasers are inseparable part of fields like communications, medicine, science and heavy industry. This is due to outstanding versatility of light, as it can be used as means for both measurement and direct processing. One of the newest developments in the field is advent of ultra-fast femtosecond (fs) lasers. Alongside all the standard laser properties, these lasers add capability to control temporal and thermal characteristics of light-matter interaction as well as eliminate any material related restrictions due ultra-high light intensities achievable. For these reasons fs lasers are predicated to play pivotal role in 4th industrial revolution with ultrafast laser marked projected to grow up to 7.1 billion dollars by 2021. Direct surface treatment is one of the key areas where fs lasers proved highly promising. Specific light-matter interaction regimes enabled by fs pulses allow to create surface patterns in scales ranging from nanoripples to millimetre-sized grooves. Such surface features could be made into either repelling or adhering. As it is direct process applicable for any kind of surface metal patterning is especially interesting, as it could find use if fields like medicine, aerospace, maritime and tool manufacturing, replacing various coatings, lubricants or enabling entirely new properties. The main objective of FemtoSurf is to exploit the newest advances in laser development for creation of industrial-grade 2-3 kW-level fs laser that would be integrated in propose-built optical chain enabling multi-beam processing (up to 100 simultaneous beams) with individually controlled spatial distributions in each laser spot, integrated into a fully automated processing setup for efficient patterning arbitrary shaped metal components with sizes exceeding several meters while retaining micrometre level precision.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
LT10233 VILNIUS
Lithuania
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.