Ultrafast Laser Welding of Crystalline Materials
Abstract
A wide array of photonic devices are depended on crystal materials for their operation. Manufacture and performance of these devices is therefore dependent on their availability, quality, and manufacturability. Single crystal materials with the necessary quality are commercially available however there are serious limitations in cost, number of suppliers, size (a limiting factor for the design of devices) and quality. The issues are further increases when the limited capabilities and costs associated with manufacturing bulk crystals into specific device geometries are taken into consideration. This generally leads to significant trade-offs between performance and cost with many such devices operating far below their theoretical capabilities. Work carried out within Heriot-Watt and elsewhere has demonstrated that it is possible to exert the necessary control to weld together transparent glass materials using ultrashort pulse lasers. However there has been little investigation of the effect on crystals. This form of material modification makes use of the unique capacities of ultrashort pulses to locally melt material on the inside which results in a volume of melted material surrounded by a solid crystal lattice. With the right thermo-mechanical conditions, it is possible to reform a single crystal lattice as the melted material cools and re-solidifies. The exact process behind this crystal re-growth is not well understood but the capability to locally modify, reform and seamlessly weld crystals using ultrashort laser pulses promises to be a paradigm defining capability for crystalline materials. Within this project we will explore the capacity of ultrashort pulse lasers to manipulate crystal structures, including to weld together crystals with a seamless “invisible� weld or to re-orientate a crystal in accordance with device fabrication requirements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 22, 2024
- Source ID
- FA86552317032
Entities
People
- Richard Carter
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Heriot-Watt University
- United States Air Force