H.Y. Zheng

Ultrasonic vibration assisted electro-discharge machining of microholes in Nitinol

An ultrasonic vibration has been superposed on the normal electrode movement to increase the flushing effect during a micro electro-discharge machining (EDM) process. A systematic study on the effects of ultrasonic vibration on the EDM performance for fabricating microholes in Nitinol has been completed. The introduction of ultrasonic vibration to the micro-EDM process has increased the machining efficiency more than 60 times, without significantly increasing the electrode wear. Numerical simulation reveals that the efficiency improvement is attributed to the strong stirring effect caused by ultrasonic vibration, which results in an excellent flushing in the micro-EDM process.

Ultrasonic vibration-assisted femtosecond laser machining of microholes

In this note, we describe a novel approach to improving laser hole drilling quality by exciting the work material with a high frequency ultrasonic vibrator during a femtosecond laser drilling process. It is found that both the aspect ratio (depth over diameter) and the wall surface finish of the microholes fabricated using the ultrasonic vibration (US) assisted laser drilling are improved, compared to those laser machined without US assistance. This is because the introduction of US into the femtosecond laser drilling process reduced the resolidified and redeposited particles on the wall surfaces.

Experimental investigations of the machinability of Ni50.6Ti49.4 alloy

This paper reports an investigation of the machinability of a Ni50.6Ti49.4 alloy by two machining methods: electrical discharge machining and femtosecond laser machining. The electrical discharge wire cutting used resulted in an average surface roughness of similar to 1.2 mu m and a heat-affected layer of 150 mu m depth. In the laser machining, an ultrashort pulse laser with a width of 150 A was used to minimize the effect of laser-generated heat on the surface integrity. This resulted in a much smaller surface roughness of similar to 0.4 mm and a heat-affected layer of only 50 mu m. The two machining methods were compared as regards machined surface integrity.

A study of substrate temperature distribution during ultrashort laser ablation of bulk copper

With the aid of an infrared thermograph technique, we directly observed the temperature variation across a bulk copper specimen as it was being ablated by multiple femtosecond laser pulses. Combining the experimental results with simulations, we quantified the deposited thermal power into the copper specimen during the femtosecond laser ablation process. A substantial amount of thermal power (more than 50%) was deposited in the copper specimen, implying that thermal effect can be significant in femtosecond laser materials processing in spite of its ultrashort pulse duration.

A total concentration fixed-grid method for two-dimensional wet chemical etching

A total concentration fixed-grid method is presented in this paper to model the two-dimensional wet chemical etching. Two limiting cases are discussed, namely—the diffusion-controlled etching and the reaction-controlled etching. A total concentration, which is the sum of the unreacted and the reacted etchant concentrations, is defined. Using this newly defined total concentration, the governing equation also contains the interface condition. A new update procedure for the reacted concentration is formulated. For demonstration, the finite-volume method is used to solve the governing equation with prescribed initial and boundary conditions. The effects of reaction rate at the etchant–substrate interface are examined. The results obtained using the total concentration method, are compared with available results from the literature.

Quantification of thermal energy deposited in silicon by multiple femtosecond laser pulses

We report our study of deposited thermal energy in silicon induced by multiple-pulse femtosecond laser irradiation. Using infrared thermography, we quantified through in situ direct measurement of temperature fields that a significant portion of laser power (two-thirds or more) was deposited into the silicon substrate instead of being reflected or carried away with the ablated material. This is believed to be the first reported study of direct in situ measurement of temperature fields as the result of deposited thermal energy from multiple femtosecond laser pulses. Our simulation results support the measured data.

Surface damage of crystalline silicon by low fluence femtosecond laser pulses

Crystalline silicon kept at atmospheric pressure was irradiated with 775 nm multiple laser pulses of 150 fs duration at repetition rate 250 Hz. The laser pulses were circularly polarized, with a peak laser fluence of 0.03 J/cm2. We observed surface damage at a much lower fluence and lower number of pulses compared to that reported in the literature. Surface damage, cracks and pits formation were observed. The evolution of the surface damage as a function of the number of laser pulses was recorded. The observations were in contrast to the findings in the literature that the silicon surface became structured when irradiated by multiple pulses.

Theoretical study of pre-formed hole geometries on femtosecond pulse energy distribution in laser drilling.

Maxwells wave equation was solved for fs laser drilling of silicon. The pre-formed hole walls influence on the propagation behavior of subsequent laser pulses was investigated. The laser intensity at hole bottom shows distinct profile as compared with that at hole entrance. The multi-peaks and ring structure of the laser intensity were found at hole bottom. The position of maximum laser intensity (MLI) in relation to the wall taper angle was studied. It was found that the position of the MLI point would be closer to the hole entrance with increasing taper angle. This observation provides valuable information in predicting the position of plasma plume which is a key factor influencing laser drilling process. The elliptical entrance hole shape and zonal structure at the hole bottom reported in the literatures have been reasonably explained using the laser intensity distribution obtained in the present model.

Effect of femtosecond laser irradiation on structure of UV grade fused silica

A p-polarized femtosecond laser beam was used to irradiate a UV grade fused silica to create microchannels, which are useful for producing optical gratings or micro fluidics devices. The laser irradiated surface was characterized using optical microscope, stylus profiler, SEM, XRD and TEM. A special technique was used to protect the laser irradiated surfaces in preparing cross-sectional TEM samples. The XRD spectra and TEM observation reveal that structure of the fused silica remain amorphous after the femtosecond laser irradiation.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF FEMTOSECOND PULSES LASER ON HOLE DRILLING OF SILICON WAFER

This study investigated the relationship and parameters interactions between five independent variables in laser percussion drilling of micro-hole. Experiments were conducted on single crystal silicon wafer with material thickness of 725 μm using femtosecond (fs) laser with wavelength of 775 nm and pulse duration of 200 fs. Laser power, focus position, number of pulses, workpiece temperature and assist liquid were selected as independent process variables. Taguchi L18 orthogonal array was applied to design the experiments. The drilling process was evaluated in terms of entrance hole diameter and exit hole diameter. The analysis of the variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the significant parameters that are affecting the entrance hole diameter and exit hole diameter. The result shows that laser power and focus position has highly significant effect on entrance hole diameter. The number of pulses, focus position and assist liquid however has highly significant effect on exit hole diameter.