Micromachining with high power picosecond lasers

Abstract

During the current decade, picosecond lasers have become a versatile tool to micro-machine virtually any material with high precision and minimal thermal side effects. Perhaps the most important limitation of using picosecond lasers in industrial production lines was that the removal rates often did not meet the economical requirements of the potential applications. The situation changed with the development of high power picosecond lasers. Novel picosecond lasers with 50W average power were recently launched into the market for industrial micromachining applications which require high throughput and cost efficiency.Nowadays industrially packaged picosecond lasers with various output power levels are available on the market: Picosecond lasers with 2.5W average power deliver sufficient pulse energy to surpass the ablation threshold, even at pulse repetition frequencies of 1MHz. The low power system will be used when low fluence removal is indicated for best quality requirements, e.g. ablation of sensitive materials. Picosecond laser systems with 10W average power combine high throughput with highest quality. Removal rates of typically 1mm3 per minute have been demonstrated in various micromachining applications. Finally, picosecond lasers with 50W average power offer a new level of industrially available ultra-fast laser systems. The throughput in micromachining systems can be boosted to double-digit mm3 per minute removal rates, which opens new avenues in the field of precise laser micromachining.This paper reviews the important features of modern picosecond laser systems, and highlights some industrial applications of picosecond laser systems with 50W average power.During the current decade, picosecond lasers have become a versatile tool to micro-machine virtually any material with high precision and minimal thermal side effects. Perhaps the most important limitation of using picosecond lasers in industrial production lines was that the removal rates often did not meet the economical requirements of the potential applications. The situation changed with the development of high power picosecond lasers. Novel picosecond lasers with 50W average power were recently launched into the market for industrial micromachining applications which require high throughput and cost efficiency.Nowadays industrially packaged picosecond lasers with various output power levels are available on the market: Picosecond lasers with 2.5W average power deliver sufficient pulse energy to surpass the ablation threshold, even at pulse repetition frequencies of 1MHz. The low power system will be used when low fluence removal is indicated for best quality requirements, e.g. ablation of sensitive ...