Laser polishing using ultrashort pulse laser

Abstract

As a result of laser ablation, a surface roughness Sa between 0.4 μm and 2μm is obtained on 3D structures that have to be polished afterwards to meet customer requirements. For that reason a laser polishing process using ultrashort pulse laser sources is investigated. Applying the polishing process immediately after laser structuring in the same setting simplifies the process chain and saves both time and money. The results reveal an improvement of the surface roughness from an initial grinded surface with 0.4 μm to 0.2 μm by ultrashort pulse laser polishing. The productivity measured by the area that can be processed per time (polishing rate) is with 12.15 cm2/min one order of magnitude higher than state of the art laser polishing using nanosecond pulsed lasers.

Authors 4

1. Andreas Brenner Aachen Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT)

   Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer-Institute for Laser Technology (Germany)

2. Leon Röther Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen Univ. (Germany)

3. Martin Osbild Aachen Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT)

   Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer-Institute for Laser Technology (Germany)

4. Johannes Finger Aachen Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT)

   Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology

   Affiliation as printed

   Fraunhofer-Institute for Laser Technology (Germany)