Marc Faucon

X-ray microfocussing combined with microfluidics for on-chip X-ray scattering measurements

This work describes the fabrication of thin microfluidic devices in Kapton (polyimide). These chips are well-suited to perform X-ray scattering experiments using intense microfocussed beams, as Kapton is both relatively resistant to the high intensities generated by a synchrotron, and almost transparent to X-rays. We show networks of microchannels obtained using laser ablation of Kapton films, and we also present a simple way to perform fusion bonding between two Kapton films. The possibilities offered using such devices are illustrated with X-ray scattering experiments. These experiments demonstrate that structural measurements in the 1 A-20 nm range can be obtained with spatial resolutions of a few microns in a microchannel.

Surface blackening by laser texturing with high repetition rate femtosecond laser up to 1MHz

The interaction between laser pulses and material surface can generate sub-wavelength surface structures named ripples. The used of ultrashort laser pulses avoid thermal effect in the lattice so the structures generated are well preserved and can be observed on various materials as metals, polymers or crystals. With increasing energy deposit, ripples grow to give cone-shape structures named spikes. All these structures are interesting to give special properties to the treated surface as coloration change, improvement of light absorption or modification of wettability properties. These structure generation process is well known for femtosecond Ti:Sa laser with a pulse duration below 100fs and repetition rates in the range of 10 kHz. However, to be relevant for industrial applications, the average power of the laser is a critical parameter. The emergence of new femtosecond Yb doped fiber lasers with pulse duration below 350fs permits an increase of the average power for a few years. We will present our latest results obtained for surface texturation on various metals such as stainless steel, titanium, aluminum and copper with these up to date laser source. We study the influence of the average power and of the repetition rate up to 1000 kHz on the surface structures generated on scanned areas. We obtain light reflexion below 7% on stainless steel and below 5% on titanium from 200nm to 2000nm. The characterizations of the results are done with SEM imaging, optical profilometry and with a spectrophotometer.

High throughput laser texturing of super-hydrophobic surfaces on steel

Super-hydrophobic surfaces are nowadays of primary interest in several application fields, as for de-icing devices in the automotive and aerospace industries. In this context, laser surface texturing has widely demonstrated to be an easy one-step method to produce super-hydrophobic surfaces on several materials. In this work, a high average power (up to 40W), high repetition-rate (up to 1MHz), femtosecond infrared laser was employed to produce super-hydrophobic surfaces on 316L steel. The set of process and laser parameters for which the super-hydrophobic behavior is optimized, was obtained by varying the laser energy and repetition rate. The morphology of the textured surfaces was firstly analyzed by SEM and confocal microscope analyses. The contact angle was measured over time in order to investigate the effect of air environment on the hydrophobic properties and define the period of time necessary for the super-hydrophobic properties to stabilize. An investigation on the effect of after-processing cleaning solvents on the CA evolution was carried to assess the influence of the after-processing sample handling on the CA evaluation. Results show that the highest values of contact angle, that is the best hydrophobic behavior, are obtained at high repetition rate and low energy, this way opening up a promising scenario in terms of upscaling for reducing the overall process takt-time.

Metal deep engraving with high average power femtosecond lasers

Deep engraving of 3D textures is a very demanding process for the creation of master tool e. g molds, forming tools or coining dies. As these masters are uses for reproduction of 3D patterns the materials for the tools are typically hard and brittle and thus difficult to machine. The new generation of industrial femtosecond lasers provides both high accuracy engraving results and high ablation rates at the same time. Operation at pulse energies of typically 40 μJ and repetition rates in the Mhz range the detrimental effect of heat accumulation has to be avoided. Therefore high scanning speeds are required to reduce the pulse overlap below 90%. As a consequence scan speeds in the range of 25-50 m/s a needed, which is beyond the capability of galvo scanners. In this paper we present results using a combination of a polygon scanner with a high average power femtosecond laser and compare this to results with conventional scanners. The effects of pulse energy and scan speed of the head on geometrical accuracy are discussed. The quality of the obtained structures is analyzed by means of 3D surface metrology microscope as well as SEM images.

Towards Laser-Textured Antibacterial Surfaces

Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacterial retention on mirror-polished and ultrashort pulse laser-textured surfaces is quantified with a new approach based on ISO standards for measurement of antibacterial performance. It is shown that both wettability and surface morphology influence antibacterial behavior, with neither superhydrophobicity nor low surface roughness alone sufficient for reducing initial retention of either tested cell type. Surface structures comprising spikes, laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) and nano-pillars are produced with 1030 nm wavelength 350 fs laser pulses of energy 19.1 μJ, 1.01 μJ and 1.46 μJ, respectively. SEM analysis, optical profilometry, shear force microscopy and wettability analysis reveal surface structures with peak separations of 20–40 μm, 0.5–0.9 μm and 0.8–1.3 μm, average areal surface roughness of 8.6 μm, 90 nm and 60 nm and static water contact angles of 160°, 119° and 140°, respectively. E. coli retention is highest for mirror-polished specimens and spikes whose characteristic dimensions are much larger than the cell size. S. aureus retention is instead found to be inhibited under the same conditions due to low surface roughness for mirror-polished samples (Sa: 30 nm) and low wettability for spikes. LIPSS and nano-pillars are found to reduce E. coli retention by 99.8% and 99.2%, respectively, and S. aureus retention by 84.7% and 79.9% in terms of viable colony forming units after two hours of immersion in bacterial broth due to both low wettability and fine surface features that limit the number of available attachment points. The ability to tailor both wettability and surface morphology via ultrashort pulsed laser processing confirms this approach as an important tool for producing the next generation of antibacterial surfaces.

Exploring polygon scanner head capabilities for ultra-short pulse laser texturing

The combination of both, fast beam scanning systems and high repetition rate, high average power lasers, represents an interesting technological solution for surface texturing by Ultra-Short Pulses Laser to gain a foothold into industrial environment for commercial purposes. Nevertheless unwanted thermal effects are expected when the average power exceeds some tens of W. An interesting strategy for a reliable heat management would consists of texturing surfaces with a low fluence values (slightly higher than the ablation threshold) and utilising a polygon scanning head which is able to deflect the laser beam with unprecedented speed. Here we show that over stainless steel, it is possible to obtain different surface textures (in particular ripples, micro grooves and spikes) by utilising a 2 MHz femtosecond laser jointly with a fast and accurate polygonal scanner head at relatively low fluence (0.11 J·cm-2). The evolution of the Laser induced surface structures morphology is shown when varying the scan speed between 25 m·s-1 and 90 m·s-1. Two different wavelengths have been utilised for the process λ= 1030 nm and λ = 515 nm and the difference of the results obtained have been highlighted. Moreover, a full structures morphology characterization by SEM has been carried out for all the textured surfaces. Finally, by increasing the number of successive surface scans is possible to tailor the surface reflectivity. As a result an average reflectivity value of < 5% over the visible range has been extracted from a blackened stainless steel surface.

Laser micro processing of metal and silicon using 100KHZ and 2MHZ ultrafast lasers

Ultrafast laser micromachining has been widely proven to be a high quality, high flexibility process, with numerous potential, industrial applications. Indeed, femtosecond laser is a key technology for micro processing since it combines the unique capability to process any material with a reduced heat affected zone. Low pulse energy is generally required for micromachining (<100µJ). Until recently, a main drawback was the low processing speed due to the limited average power available from ultrafast lasers. Recent advances in commercial ultrafast lasers enables to overcome this limitation since there is a significantly increase of the average power available to the user. However, parallel advances in process development are required to take full advantage of these new capabilities. In this paper, we report on micromachining and engraving of metal and silicon using both crystal-based systems (4W@100kHz) and fiber lasers (15W@2MHz), operating in the picosecond and femtosecond regimes. We obtained removal rate up to 2mm3/min on metal without any burr. Processing speeds greater than 5m/s are reached with smooth and burr-free sidewalls.Ultrafast laser micromachining has been widely proven to be a high quality, high flexibility process, with numerous potential, industrial applications. Indeed, femtosecond laser is a key technology for micro processing since it combines the unique capability to process any material with a reduced heat affected zone. Low pulse energy is generally required for micromachining (<100µJ). Until recently, a main drawback was the low processing speed due to the limited average power available from ultrafast lasers. Recent advances in commercial ultrafast lasers enables to overcome this limitation since there is a significantly increase of the average power available to the user. However, parallel advances in process development are required to take full advantage of these new capabilities. In this paper, we report on micromachining and engraving of metal and silicon using both crystal-based systems (4W@100kHz) and fiber lasers (15W@2MHz), operating in the picosecond and femtosecond regimes. We obtained removal ra...

New fast galvo scanner head for high throughput micromachining

Femtosecond lasers have been proved to be an effective fabrication tool to process with high machining quality and negligible thermal effects a wide variety of materials. However, the system technology enabling fast and precise scanning on the workpiece, currently limits the average power of these laser sources to less than 10 Watts of average power in most industrial application. To overcome this limitation, a proportional up-scaling of both, the laser repetition rate and scan speed is needed, demanding for faster scanning technologies. Recently, rugged, femtosecond lasers delivering pulses with repetition rates of several MHz and pulse energy up to some hundreds of μJ have been introduced to the market. In parallel, the development and commercialization of novel galvanometric scanner heads, enabling scan speeds well above 10 m/s is ongoing. Here we explored the capabilities of a novel set-up consisting of an industrial femtosecond laser delivering 100 W with a repetition rate up to 13 MHz coupled with an innovative galvanometric scanner head enabling scan speeds up to 30 m·s-1. On stainless steel, we carried out engraving tests with both single line grooving and multiple surface raster scanning. By systematic variation of repetition rate and pules overlap we investigate how the machining quality and the ablation rate depend on the average laser power at different fluence levels. Heat accumulation effects are evaluated via Scanning Electron Microscope. Finally, we show how to scale-up the cutting of a 500 μm thick stainless-steel part varying the scan speed from 1 m·s-1 to 20 m·s-1.

Surface functionalization of metal surfaces by large-area USP laser texturing

Ultra-short pulse laser texturing is a well-known one-step technique used to transform the surface properties of different materials in order to functionalize them for specific applications. According to the laser and process parameters, several features can be achieved, as surface coloring, blackening and super-hydrophobicity. In this work, an upscaling approach is considered for generation of surface structures and thermal effects, connected to the use of high-average power lasers are considered in relation to the influence of the laser pulse duration and repetition rate on the final surface morphology. Mirror-polished 316L steel samples were textured by an UPS laser source with pulse duration of about 450fs and running at 1030nm, at two different repetition rates, 250kHz and 1000kHz. Results show that two main sources of thermal effects are identified: (i) heat accumulation due to the use of high repetition rates and (ii) thermal diffusion effects linked to the intrinsic nature of the material. When employing high repetition rates, a lower cumulative energy is necessary to highlight the influence of the pulse duration on the surface morphology. Finally, the influence of pulse duration and wavelength on the wetting properties of the material surface are also investigated.

Trepanning drilling of stainless steel using a high-power Ytterbium-doped fiber ultrafast laser: influence of pulse duration on hole geometry and processing quality

Percussion drilling is a well-established technique for several applicative markets such as for aircraft and watch industries. Lamp pumped solid state lasers and more recently fiber lasers, operating in millisecond or nanosecond regimes, are classically used for these applications. However, due to their long pulse duration, these technologies are not suitable for emerging applicative market such as fuel injectors for automotive industry. Only the ultrashort laser technology, combined with special drilling optics like trepanning head, has the potential to fulfill the needs for this new market in terms of processing quality, custom-shape capabilities and short drilling time. Although numerous papers dealing with percussion drilling have been reported in the literature, only few papers are dedicated to trepanning drilling. In this context, we present some results on the influence of pulse duration on gas-assisted laser drilling of stainless steel using a trepanning head and a high power Ytterbium doped fiber ultrafast laser (20W). The influence of pulse energy (7- 64μJ), fluence (3-25 J/cm2), drilling time (1-20s), processing gas pressure and drilling strategy will be discussed as well.