New processing regime for machining of organic materials

Stuart Astin; Richard D. Pilkington; Stewart W. Williams; Jagjit Sidhu

doi:10.1117/12.321518

14 September 1998 New processing regime for machining of organic materials

Stuart Astin, Richard D. Pilkington, Stewart W. Williams, Jagjit Sidhu

Proceedings Volume 3343, High-Power Laser Ablation; (1998) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.321518
Event: High-Power Laser Ablation, 1998, Santa Fe, NM, United States

Abstract

This paper investigates the laser ablation of materials at high intensities. It is known that when drilling organic materials at low and moderate fluences (0.1 - 50 J/cm²) the etch depth per pulse increases exponentially with fluence, essentially following the Beer Law absorption characteristic. For carbon fiber composite the ablation rate reaches a level of about 2 micrometer per pulse for high fluences. However when approaching very high intensities (e.g. greater than 10¹⁰ W/cm²) a sharp increase in ablation rate to greater than 30 micrometer per pulse has been observed and used for drilling experiments. Extensive studies of this regime have subsequently been carried out to characterize it. This has included the effect of different focusing lenses and the effect material thickness. For high quality beams the hole quality is good with no heat affected zone and no significant mechanical damage. This new regime may make the large scale excimer laser drilling or cutting of carbon reinforced fiber an economically feasible application due to the increased drilling and cutting rates. Also this method only requires a simple optical system for high beam utilization factors. These issues will be discussed.

Citation Download Citation

Stuart Astin, Richard D. Pilkington, Stewart W. Williams, and Jagjit Sidhu "New processing regime for machining of organic materials", Proc. SPIE 3343, High-Power Laser Ablation, (14 September 1998); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.321518

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