Volume 5, Issue 1 - Optics for material processing / Guest Editors: Koji Sugioka and Stefan Kaierle

The recent progress in laser processing reaches a level where a precise fabrication that overcomes the diffraction limit of the far-field optics can be achieved. Laser processing mediated by enhanced near field is one of the attractive methods to provide highly precise structuring with a simple apparatus. In this review, we describe the fundamentals of the electromagnetic near field in the vicinity of small structures and the application of its specific properties for nanomodification. Theoretical and experimental results on nanoablation based on electromagnetic field enhancement due to plasmon polariton excitation and Mie scattering are discussed. High-throughput nanohole fabrication mediated by arrayed nanospheres is discussed, as the coupling effect of near field is also considered. In addition, recent fabrication techniques and their potential applications in nanopatterning, nanoscale deformation, and biophotonics are discussed.

The most important component of quantum optics is laser interference. Interference patterns are formed by splitting a coherent beam into multiple beams and correlating them. This study introduces a variety of beam correlators and discusses their characteristics. Beam correlator basics such as interference region in terms of pulse width, group delay dispersion effects on pulse width, optical delay adjustment, and interference pattern simulation are explained. A discussion of the history of interference processing begins with the method in 1967 and continues through the advancement of shorter wavelengths and pulse widths. The recent techniques of solid-liquid-solid for 3D nanofabrication, duplicated structures with laser-induced periodic surface structure, processing inside transparent materials, and 2D and 3D periodic structures fabricated by photo-sensitization are also presented.

Parallel femtosecond laser processing using a computer-generated hologram displayed on a spatial light modulator, known as holographic femtosecond laser processing, provides the advantages of high throughput and high-energy use efficiency. Therefore, it has been widely used in many applications, including laser material processing, two-photon polymerization, two-photon microscopy, and optical manipulation of biological cells. In this paper, we review the development of holographic femtosecond laser processing over the past few years from the perspective of wavefront and polarization modulation. In particular, line-shaped and vector-wave femtosecond laser processing are addressed. These beam-shaping techniques are useful for performing large-area machining in laser cutting, peeling, and grooving of materials and for high-speed fabrication of the complex nanostructures that are applied to material-surface texturing to control tribological properties, wettability, reflectance, and retardance. Furthermore, issues related to the nonuniformity of diffraction light intensity in optical reconstruction and wavelength dispersion from a computer-generated hologram are addressed. As a result, large-scale holographic femtosecond laser processing over 1000 diffraction spots was successfully demonstrated on a glass sample.

For realising fast and highly dynamical laser-based material processing, scanner systems are already utilised for many different industrial applications. Furthermore, ultra-short pulsed (<1 ps) laser sources provide possibilities of processing most different materials with highest accuracy. Owing to the large spectral bandwidth of ultra-short laser pulses, dispersion in optical components becomes relevant. The dispersion in optical systems for laser scanners may lead to scan angle-depending pulse properties as, for example, pulse front tilt. The investigation of these effects is not state of the art today but absolutely necessary to exploit the full potential of laser scanners for ultra-short pulse applications. By means of an exemplary focusing lens, the simulation and experimental analysis of scan angle-depending pulse front tilt is presented for the first time.

Sheet metals with thicknesses >8 mm have a distinct cutting performance. The free choice of the optical configuration composed of fiber diameter, collimation, and focal length offers many opportunities to influence the static beam geometry. Previous analysis points out the limitations of this method in the thick section area. Within the present study, an experimental investigation of fiber laser fusion cutting of 12 mm stainless steel was performed by means of dynamical beam oscillation. Two standard optical setups are combined with a highly dynamic galvano-driven scanner that achieves frequencies up to 4 kHz. Dependencies of the scanner parameter, the optical circumstances, and the conventional cutting parameters are discussed. The aim is to characterize the capabilities and challenges of the dynamic beam shaping in comparison to the state-of-the-art static beam shaping. Thus, the trials are evaluated by quality criteria of the cut edge as surface roughness and burr height, the feed rate, and the cut kerf geometry. The investigation emphasizes promising procedural possibilities for improvements of the cutting performance in the case of fiber laser fusion cutting of thick stainless steel by means of the application of a highly dynamic scanner.

Scanner-based applications are already widely used for the processing of surfaces, as they allow for highly dynamic deflection of the laser beam. Particularly, the processing of three-dimensional surfaces with laser radiation initiates the development of highly innovative manufacturing techniques. Unfortunately, the focused laser beam suffers from deformation caused by the involved projection mechanisms. The degree of deformation is field variant and depends on both the surface geometry and the working position of the laser beam. Depending on the process sensitivity, the deformation affects the process quality, which motivates a method of compensation. Current approaches are based on a local adaption of the laser power to maintain constant intensity within the interaction zone. For advanced manufacturing, this approach is insufficient, as the residual deformation of the initial circular laser spot is not taken into account. In this paper, an alternative approach is discussed. Additional beam-shaping devices are integrated between the laser source and the scanner, and allow for an in situ compensation to ensure a field-invariant circular focus spot within the interaction zone. Beyond the optical design, the approach is challenging with respect to the control theory’s point of view, as both the beam deflection and the compensation have to be synchronized.

We present comparative investigations on the formation of in-volume nanogratings in a porous glass with both conventionally and spatiotemporally focused femtosecond laser pulses. Our results show that despite the different spatiotemporal characteristics of the light fields produced at the foci with the two focusing schemes, nanogratings can be formed in both cases, whereas their structural features are different. We discuss the physical mechanism behind the experimental observations.

The current availability of new advanced fiber and DPSS lasers with characteristic pulse lengths ranging from ns to fs has provided a unique frame in which the development of laser-generated microstructures has been made possible for very diverse kinds of materials and applications. At the same time, the development of the appropriate laser-processing workstations granting the appropriate precision and repeatability of the respective laser interaction processes in line with the characteristic dimension features required in the microstructured samples has definitively consolidated laser surface microstructuring as a reference domain, nowadays, unavoidable for the design and manufacturing of current use microsystem: MEMSs, fluidic devices, advanced sensors, biomedical devices and instruments, etc., are all among the most well-known developments of the micromanufacturing technology. Completing the broad spectrum of applications developed mostly involving the generation of geometrical features on a subtrate with specific functional purposes, a relatively new, emerging class of laser-microstructuring techniques is finding an important niche of application in the generation of physically structured surfaces (particularly of metallic materials) with specific contact, friction, and wear functionalities, for whose generation the concourse of different types of laser sources is being found as an appropriate tool. In this paper, the application of laser sources with emission in the UV and at ns time regime to the surface structuration of metal surfaces (specifically Al) for the modification of their wettability properties is described as an attractive application basis for the generation of self-cleaning properties of extended functional surfaces. Flat aluminum sheets of thickness 100 μm were laser machined with ultraviolet laser pulses of 30 ns with different laser parameters to optimize the process parameters. The samples produced at the optimum conditions with respect to contact angle measurement were subjected to microstructure and chemical analysis. The wetting properties were evaluated by static contact angle measurements on the laser-patterned surface. The laser-patterned microstructures exhibited superhydrophobicity with a maximum contact angle of 180° for the droplet volumes in the range of 8–12 μl.