Ultrafast laser processing of materials: from science to industry

By Mangirdas Malinauskas, A. Žukauskas, S. Hasegawa, Y. Hayasaki, Vygantas Mizeikis, R. Buividas, Saulius Juodkazis. Light: Science & Applications, 2016

1,172 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Processing of materials by ultrashort laser pulses has evolved significantly over the last decade and is starting to reveal its scientific, technological and industrial potential. In ultrafast laser manufacturing, optical energy of tightly focused femtosecond or picosecond laser pulses can be delivered to precisely defined positions in the bulk of materials via two-/multi-photon excitation on a timescale much faster than thermal energy exchange between photoexcited electrons and lattice ions. Control of photo-ionization and thermal processes with the highest precision, inducing local photomodification in sub-100-nm-sized regions has been achieved. State-of-the-art ultrashort laser processing techniques exploit high 0.1–1 μm spatial resolution and almost unrestricted three-dimensional structuring capability. Adjustable pulse duration, spatiotemporal chirp, phase front tilt and polarization allow control of photomodification via uniquely wide parameter space. Mature opto-electrical/mechanical technologies have enabled laser processing speeds approaching meters-per-second, leading to a fast lab-to-fab transfer. The key aspects and latest achievements are reviewed with an emphasis on the fundamental relation between spatial resolution and total fabrication throughput. Emerging biomedical applications implementing micrometer feature precision over centimeter-scale scaffolds and photonic wire bonding in telecommunications are highlighted. The ability of femtosecond lasers to efficiently fabricate complex structures and devices for a wide variety of applications is reviewed. Mangirdas Malinauskas at Vilnius University in Lithuania and co-workers in Japan, Australia and Saudi Arabia describe how state-of-the-art laser processing techniques with ultrashort light pulses can be used to structure materials with a sub-micrometre resolution. Direct laser writing of suitable photoresists and other transparent media can create intricate three-dimensional photonic crystals, micro-optical components, gratings, tissue scaffolds and optical waveguides. Such structures are potentially useful for empowering next-generation applications in telecommunications and bioengineering that rely on the creation of increasingly sophisticated miniature parts. The precision, fabrication speed and versatility of ultrafast laser processing make it well placed to become a vital industrial tool for manufacturing.

Subfields: Biomedical Engineering, Computational Mechanics, Ophthalmology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/644c49ce1c8179e30d9128f4910236a6652f3356

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The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Biomedical Engineering

1. P. Ormos
2. Koji Sugioka
3. Roberto Osellame
4. Rebeca Martinez Vazquez
5. Lóránd Kelemen
6. F. Sima

In Computational Mechanics

1. Koji Sugioka
2. Roberto Osellame

In Ophthalmology

1. Koji Sugioka
2. Roberto Osellame

Citations in the corpus

• Three-dimensional femtosecond laser processing for lab-on-a-chip applications (2018, background): “Alternative hybrid subtractive and additive 3D-FLP is known as ship-in-a-bottle integration, in which subtractive FLAE of glass is followed by additive TPP of negative photoresists in order to fabricate hybrid inorganic-organic LOC devices with polymeric 3D microstructures possessing specific functi”