FemtoLux

Utilisation of high-power ultrafast laser for ablation-based industrial processes such as milling, drilling or cutting requires high production rates and superior quality. In this paper, we demonstrate highly efficient, rapid and high-quality laser micro-machining of three industrial metals (aluminium, copper, and stainless steel). Our proposed optimisation methods of pulse energy division in time result in simultaneous enhancement of ablation efficiency (volume per energy) and ablation rate (volume per time) while maintaining a focused laser beam on the target surface and high resolution. A high-tech femtosecond burst laser, producing laser pulses of τ = 350 fs duration and intra-burst repetition rates of f_P = 50 MHz, was employed in the experiments. Due to the utilisation of bursts, material removal efficiency and removal rate were increased by 18.0 %, 44.5 %, and 37.0 % for aluminium, copper, and stainless steel if compared with the best performance of single-pulses. In addition to the high processing rate, processing by burst mode resulted in lower surface roughness. This technique is believed to be a solution enabling extremely high femtosecond laser powers for precise microfabrication.

Laser polishing offers numerous advantages, one of which is the convenience of using the same system for the
whole manufacturing process. In this work, an ultrashort pulse laser operating in a GHz burst regime was used to polish
stainless steel. The aim was to minimise surface roughness, characterised by the average roughness parameter R_a. Different
laser processing parameters (average laser power, number of pulses per burst, scanning speed, hatch size) were varied to polish
samples that were covered in laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). Thermal effects, such as melt layer formation,
were noticed and discussed. It was demonstrated that LIPSS can be erased and the initial surface roughness of 73 nm was
reduced to 41 nm using 100 pulses per burst and burst fluence of F_B = 0.15 J/cm².

The cutting quality and strength of strips cut with femtosecond-duration pulses were investigated for different thicknesses of borosilicate glass plates. The laser pulse duration was 350 fs, and cutting was performed in two environments: ambient air and water. When cutting in water, a thin flowing layer of water was formed at the front surface of the glass plate by spraying water mist next to a laser ablation zone. The energy of pulses greatly exceeded the critical self-focusing threshold in water, creating conditions favorable for laser beam filament formation. Laser cutting parameters were individually optimized for different glass thicknesses (110–550 µm). The results revealed that laser cutting of borosilicate glass in water is favorable for thicker glass (300–550 µm) thanks to higher cutting quality, higher effective cutting speed, and characteristic strength. On the other hand, cutting ultrathin glass plates (110 µm thickness) demonstrated almost identical performance and cutting quality results in both environments. In this paper, we studied cut-edge defect widths, cut-sidewall roughness, cutting throughput, characteristic strength, and band-like damage formed at the back surface of laser-cut glass strips.

Water-assisted ultrashort laser pulse processing of semiconductor materials is a promising technique to diminish heat accumulation and improve process quality. In this study, we investigate femtosecond laser ablation of deep trenches in GaAs, an important optoelectronic material, using water and ambient air environments at different laser processing regimes. We perform a comprehensive analysis of ablated trenches, including surface morphological analysis, atomic-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging, elemental mapping, photoluminescence, and Raman spectroscopy. The findings demonstrate that GaAs ablation efficiency is enhanced in a water environment while heat-accumulation-related damage is reduced. Raman spectroscopy reveals a decrease in the broad feature associated with amorphous GaAs surface layers during water-assisted laser processing, suggesting that a higher material quality in deep trenches can be achieved using a water environment.

A new versatile patent-pending technology enabling new operation regimes and a unique set of features in the industrialgrade 30 W-level average power femtosecond hybrid laser is introduced in this work. The developed technology, based on the use of an all-in-fiber active fiber loop (AFL), enabled to form GHz bursts of ultrashort laser pulses with any desired pulse repetition rate and any number of pulses in a burst with identical intra-burst pulse separation. Furthermore, the AFL allowed to tune pulse duration from a few hundred femtoseconds to picoseconds and even up to the nanosecond range.

Laser sources which produce GHz bursts of ultrashort pulses attract a lot of attention by demonstrating superior performance in material processing. Flexibility of the laser source in a selection of parameters for custom application is highly preferable. In this work, we demonstrate a very versatile method for burst formation using the active fiber loop (AFL). It allows forming GHz bursts containing from 2 up to approximately 2200 pulses in a burst (1000 ns burst width) with identical pulse separation and any predefined intra-burst pulse repetition rate (PRR). The burst pre-shaping by the amplification conditions in the AFL and by the modulation of transmission of the acousto-optic modulator was demonstrated. Industrial-grade ultrafast laser system was able to operate in the single-pulse and GHz-burst regimes. The laser system delivered high-quality 368 fs duration (FWHM) pulses of 15.3 µJ pulse energy and 30.6 W average output power at 2 MHz PRR in the single-pulse regime. In the GHz-burst operation regime, bursts of 2.2 GHz intra-burst repetition rate were formed and amplified to more than 30 W average output power with a burst energy up to 135 µJ at a burst repetition rate of 200 kHz. The sub-picosecond duration of pulses was obtained in the GHz-burst regime at different burst widths.

In this work we present a novel method for depolarization compensation based on spatially variable wave plate. Thermally induced depolarization losses were reduced from 14.3% to 1.3% and bifocusing eliminated in a double-pass Yb:YAG amplifier.

A subpicosecond laser system featuring a fiber chirped pulse amplification-based seed laser and a double-pass end-pumped Yb:YAG crystal power amplifier was investigated. The key novelty of the system was the application of depolarization compensation using a specially designed spatially variable wave plate. To the best of our knowledge, this method was applied for the first time. The presented laser system produced pulses of 441 fs duration, 116 µJ pulse energy at 116 W average power with a beam quality of M²∼2.1, featured optical-to-optical efficiency of 32% at room temperature (T=20°C), and had residual depolarization level of 2.7%.

FemtoLux 30 is a new 30 W femtosecond industrial grade laser build to work 24/7/365 without any interruptions. Other lasers of similar optical power use water for cooling, which means additional bulky and heavy water chiller is needed which require periodical maintenance (cooling system draining and rinsing, water and particle filter replacement). Moreover, in the unfortunate event of water leakage, not only laser head but also more expensive equipment could be damaged. FemtoLux 30 uses innovative direct refrigerant cooling method that do not contain any water inside the laser head and has much higher cooling efficiency. Laser cooling equipment is integrated together with the power supply unit into a single 4U rack mounted housing with a total weight of just < 15 kg. To tailor laser for specific applications, FemtoLux 30 laser has a tunable pulse duration from < 350 fs to 1 ps and can operate in very broad AOM controlled range of pulse repetition rate from a single shot to 4 MHz. While max energy of >250 µJ, that could be achieved while operating in a burst mode, could ensure higher ablation rates for different materials. FemtoLux 30 is designed as perfect tool for display and microelectronics manufacturing, as well as for micro processing and marking of brittle materials, such as glass, sapphire or ceramics, as well as for highest quality micro processing of different metals and polymers. Innovative laser control electronics ensures easy control of FemtoLux30, thus reducing time and resources required for integrating this laser into different equipment.

In this work, a double-pass end-pumped Yb:YAG amplifier system was investigated experimentally and numerically. The amplifier was seeded by a fibre-CPA based seed laser FemtoLux 30 (Ekspla). The presented laser system produced 129 W average power and 129 μJ energy pulses at 1 MHz pulse repetition rate, with optical-to-optical efficiency of 32% at room temperature (T = 20°C). The resulting beam quality was M² ∼ 2.1 and the measured depolarization losses were to 17.9%. After the compression, 441 fs pulse duration was achieved. During the work, comprehensive amplifier modelling was performed using the code written in Matlab. The modelling results matched well the experimental data, providing the tool to predict the performance of laser systems based on ytterbium-doped isotropic crystalline, ceramic and glass laser materials prior to designing and manufacturing.