Laser materials processing at Sandia National Laboratories

Abstract

The interest in laser processing has been driven by Sandia`s responsibility to design, prototype, manufacture, and steward high reliability defense hardware for the Department of Energy. The system requirements for the hardware generally necessitate hermetic sealing for ensured long life operation. With the advent of miniaturized electronic devices, traditional welding processes were no longer practical choices because of their limited ability to make very small weld closures without heat damage to the hardware. Gas and solid state lasers offered the opportunity to make hermetic closure welds in small, heat sensitive hardware. In order to consistently produce quality product, the Sandia laser materials processing team performed research aimed at identifying those critical parameters which controlled the laser welding process. This has been directed towards both the development of quantitative engineering data needed in product design and process control, and research to achieve fundamental process understanding. In addition, they have developed novel diagnostic systems to measure these important parameters, pioneered the use of calorimetric techniques to measure energy transfer efficiencies, and correlated the occurrence of welding defects with alloy compositions and type of laser welding process. Today, Sandia`s laser materials processing team continues to advance the state of laser processing technology inmore » many areas, including aluminum laser welding, the design of novel optics for specific laser processing needs, laser micromachining of silicon and diamond for microelectronics applications, and fluxless laser soldering. This paper will serve to highlight some examples of where Sandia has made contributions to the field of laser materials processing and will indicate the directions where they expect to focus their future efforts.« less