Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT

Laser Material Processing

Our Services

Cutting, joining and surface processes in micro and macro technology

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Laser Material Processing

Among the many manufacturing processes in the technology field Laser Materials Processing, cutting and joining in micro and macro technology as well as surface processes count among its most important. Whether it be laser cutting or laser welding, drilling or soldering, laser metal deposition or cleaning, structuring or polishing, generating or layering, the range of services spans process development and feasibility studies, simulation and modeling, as well as the integration of processes in production lines.

The strength of the technology field lies in its extensive know-how, which is tailored to customer requirements. In such a way hybrid and combination processes also result. Moreover, complete system solutions are offered in cooperation with a specialized network of partners. Special plants, plant modifications and additional components are the constituent part of numerous R&D projects. For example, special processing heads for laser materials processing are being developed and produced, based on a customer's specific needs. In addition, process optimization by changing the design of components as well as systems to monitor quality on-line count among the specializations of this technology field.

Customers receive laser-specific solutions that incorporate the working material, product design, construction, means of production and quality control. This technology field appeals to laser users from various branches: from machining and tool construction to photovoltaics and precision engineering all the way to aircraft and automobile construction.

Project results

Reports from the last few years in the technology field Laser Material Processing

Equipment Laser Material Processing

Process Sensorics

  • High speed camera, photron SA5 image rate of approx. 100,000 f/s, working memory 32 GB
  • Photocathode image amplifier for high speed video cameras
  • NIR camera, XEVAS HS image rate of 350 f/s
  • PhotonFocus high speed digital CMOS surface cameras
  • Dalsa RGB line camera
  • High power LED illumination system
  • Illumination laser 810 nm, 532 nm
  • CPC (coaxial process control), flexible, modular optical system for 
    integration in laser processing plants
  • Amtron pyrometer for low temperatures, measuring rate 1 ms
  • Fast Kleiber pyrometer, measuring rate 0.01 ms
  • Shack Harmann sensor for wave front measurement
  • Circular shape testing device for dynamic measurement of processing plants
  • Powder gas-stream testing station to measure and characterize nozzles for generative processes
  • Full radiator
  • Reis robot processing plant with beam guiding and MSG source for hybrid welding
  • ZEMAX, software for optical system design
  • MATLAB, software for algorithm development for image processing

Thin Films and Cleaning

  • Scanner installation with diode lasers (continuous: 980 nm at 150 W, 1,470 nm at 60 W, 1,920 nm at 20 W; pulsed: 980, tp = 5 – 20 µs , f = 5,000 – 30,000 Hz, Ep < 10 mJ)
  • High-speed handling system (maximum speed: 5 m/s, length 2.1 m)
  • Flow box with dip coater
  • Nano indenter (Δxy = ± 4 µm, F = 0.05 – 500 mN)
  • Pipe-jet printer
  • Inkjet printer
  • Erbium color laser 1,550 nm with scanner and optics, 100W, cw
  • Nd:YAG laser (pulsed) with high pulse-to-pulse stability, 40W mean power, 20 – 200 kHz repitition rate, 18 – 80 ns pulse length, with scanner and optics
  • High power Q-switched Nd:YAG laser system with 2 x 1,000-W mean output power, fiber-coupled in 2 x 600-µm fibers, in combination with diverse 1D and 2D scanners for quick beam deflection, 30 kHz repetition rate, appox. 100 ns pulse duration
  • High power Q-switched Nd:YAG laser system (built at the Fraunhofer ILT) with 1,800-W mean output power, fiber-coupled in 400-µm fiber, combined with diverse 1d and 2D scanners for quick beam deflection, 33 Hz repetition rate, approx. 100 ns pulse duration
  • 1D scanner for quick beam deflection with up to 25m/s scanning speed (built at the Fraunhofer ILT)
  • Assembly for online absorption measurements with Ulbricht spheres and 1GHz oscilloscope
  • Diverse optics for beam forming and focussing

Polishing

  • Laboratory machine for laser polishing of metals with five mechanical and three optical axes for work pieces of up to 3 kg (with a 400-W rod laser)
  • Tool machine for laser polishing with five mechanical and three optical axes for work pieces of up to 200 kg (with a 1000-W disc laser)
  • Laboratory assembly for high dynamic overlapping of several laser beams (at 1 µm wavelength)
  • Scanner assembly with power attenuator for independent adjustment of laser power and pulse duration of pulsed solid-state lasers
  • Laboratory machine for laser polishing of glass and plastics with two mechanical and two optical axes (with a 1,500-W CO2 laser)
  • Oven and diverse heating plates for preheating and tempering of glass samples
  • Delcam PowerMILL CAM system
  • 1500-W CO2 laser
  • 1000-W disc laser, cs
  • 700-W disc laser, cw and pulsed (600 – 2,000 ns)
  • 400-W rod laser, cs and pulsed (100 – 500 ns)
  • 40-W fiber laser, pulsed
  • Diverse optics, waveguide fibers with round and quadratic cross-section
  • Thermal-imaging camera, pyrometer
  • Zygo NewView 7300 white light interferometer
  • Mahr M2 profilometer
  • Leica M205 C stereo microscope with camera

Heat Treatment and Coating / Cladding

  • Fiber-coupled diode laser with 1, 2 and 10 kW output power
  • 200-W fiber laser for micro processing
  • Fiber-coupled Nd:YAG laser with 2 and 3 kW output power
  • Fiber-coupled (100 µm) disc laser with 1 kW output power
  • 12-kW CO2 laser
  • Diverse optics with fixed or variable focal lengths for beam diameters of 100 µm up to a rectangular profile of 90 x 45 mm2
  • Peripheral devices for process monitoring and component measurement (cameras, pyrometers, optical scanners)
  • Diverse powder conveyors for feeding power grain fractions between 20 and 150 µm
  • Powder conveyor for feeding powder grain fractions < 20 µm
  • Vibrating screen and mixer for power preparation and processing
  • Precise three-axis handling system for micro processing
  • Compact five-axis handling system for coating (mobile operation possible)
  • Glove box with integrated four-axis handling system for laser processing in a protective gas atmosphere ( < 10 ppm residual oxygen)
  • Five-axis portal system for laser processing of large work pieces
  • Four x four-axis handling system for coating and heat treatment
  • Heating plate for preheating up to 900 °C
  • Protective gas oven for temperatures of up to 1,300 °C for post heat-treatment
  • Five (+two)-axis cantilever plant
  • TRUMPT TLC 1005 plant
  • Metallography laboratory with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and EDX analysis
  • Low load and macro hardness testing

Rapid Manufacturing

  • EOSint M270
  • Trumaform SLM plant with platform heating of up to 500 °C and a 500-W fiber laser
  • Trumaform SML plant with platform heating up to 500 °C and a 1,000-W fiber laser
  • Two SML laboratory plants with platform heating of up to 500 °C
  • SLM laser beam sources (single mode fiber laser) with 200 W and 1,000 W
  • SLM laboratory plant with CO2 laser beam source up to 600 W for processing of (bio)polymers and ceramics
  • SLM laboratory plant with inductive platform heaing up to 1,200 °C as well as beam heating up to 1,700 °C for processing of high-temperature materials and ceramics
  • Powder sieves and powder mills for power preparation
  • Drum-deburring device for surface smoothing of SLM components
  • Diverse systems and optics for coaxial on-line process monitoring

Microjoining

  • Disk laser, λ = 1030 nm, 1 kW, 50/200 μm fiber
  • Nd:YAG laser, λ = 1064 nm, 60 W pulsed, 0,1 - 20 ms
  • Nd:YAG laser, λ = 1064 nm, 400 W, 0,1 - 50 ms,
  • Diode laser, λ = 808/940 nm, up to 500 W, 600 μm fiber
  • Diode laser, λ = 980 nm, 100 W, 200 μm fiber
  • Diode laser, λ = 1.5 μm, 600 μm fiber
  • Diode laser, λ = 800 nm, 4x300 W, simultaneous control, direct beam
  • Fiber laser, λ = 1075 nm, 20 W, 100 W and 200 W, TEM00
  • Fiber laser, λ = 1.5 μm, 100 W, TEM00
  • Fiber laser, λ = 1.9 μm, 100 W, TEM00
  • Laser soldering head with integrated solder wire feeder
  • Galvanometer scanner with focal length from 50 mm to 566 mm
  • 5-axis micro machining system with accuracy down to 1 μm
  • 3-axis system with force feed back controlled z-axis
  • Scara robot and jointed-arm robot
  • Automated assembly cell Teamtechnik teamos
  • Process monitoring system Precitec LaserWeldingMonitor LWM
  • High speed imaging camera with 10,000 fps
  • Climate testing chamber: - 70 °C to +180 °C
  • Chamber furnace for dustfree vitrifying and tempering, max. 650 °C

Macrojoining and Cutting

  • CO2 lasers up to 20 kW
  • Disc lasers up to 10 kW [Achtung. Schreibfehler im deutsch]
  • Fiber lasers up to 4 kW
  • Lamp and diode-pumped solid-state lasers up to 8 kW
  • Diode laser systems up to 3 kW
  • Trumpf 6 kW Trulaser 5030 CO2 flat-bed laser cutting machine
  • Trumpf laser cell TLC 105 with CO2 laser TLF2600t (with connection to LAY2006D)
  •  High-power scanner up to 8 kW
  •  2D high speed plant, a = 4g, v = 300m/min
  •  Laser portal robot
  •  Six-axis robot
  •  Schuler-Held Translas 2718 Penta portal robot
  •  Schuler-Held Translas 3223 Penta portal robot
  •  Three-axis processing stations
  •  Varilas (Held) three-axis side-head machine
  •  MOBO mobile laser processing station
  •  Reis RV16 robotic working cell with rotary table
  •  Beam guidance systems
  •  Beam diagnosis devices for high-power lasers (microspot monitor, focus monitor)
  •  Various processing heads for welding and cutting
  •  Comibhead for welding and cutting
  •  Hybrid welding heads for CO2 or solid-state lasers
  •  Welding electricity sources MIG / MAG and TIG
  •  Krautkramer UMS25S Lemo ultrasound testing device
  •  LabVIEW real time system (data collection, control, regulation)
  •  High speed camera with 100 kHz image rate
  •  Smearing/Streaking diagnosis station
  •  Incident light – transmitted light – microscopy and image analysis
  •  Stereo microscope
  •  Hardness tester (macro/micro)
  •  Surface measuring device
  •  Scanning electron microscope with EDX
  •  White light interferometer
  •  Spectrometer UV/VIS/NIR 200 nm – 2,500 nm
  •  Spectrometer FT IR 2,500 nm – 30 µm
  •  3D surface measuring device

Laser in Photovoltaics

  • Ultra-short pulse laser, λ = 1064, 532, 355 nm, tpulse 10 ps
  • Q-switched Yb:YAG disc laser, λ = 1030 nm, Pav 65 W, tpulse 1 μs
  • Yb:YAG disc laser, λ = 1030 nm, Pav = 750 W, tpulse 1 μs, fiber guided
  • Short-pulse laser, λ = 355 nm, Pav = 10 W, tpulse 35 ns
  • Nd:YAG laser, λ = 1064 nm, Pav = 60 W, Ppulse 3 kW, tPulse 0.1 - 20 ms
  • Nd:YAG laser, λ = 1064 nm, Pav = 400 W, Ppulse 8 kW, tpulse 0.1 - 50 ms
  • Disc laser, λ = 1030 nm, Pav = 1 kW, cw, 50/200 μm fi bres
  • Fiber laser, λ = 1075 nm, Pav = 100/200 W, cw, TEM00
  • Diode laser, λ = 808/940 nm, Pav = 250 and 500 W, cw, 600 μm fiber
  • Diode laser, λ = 800 nm, P = 4 x 300 W, cw, simultaneously controllable
  • Galvanometeric scanners with apertures of 7 to 25 mm, focal lengths of 50 - 566 mm (e.g. for 6“ work fields)
  • 5-axis machining systems with precision down to less than 1 μm
  • Climate chamber -70 °C to +180 °C
  • Wafer test system (photoconductance decay) with Suns-Voc station
  • Digital light microscope with up to 1000 x magnification
  • Scanning electron microscope
  • White light interferometer
  • Process control Precitec LaserWeldingMonitor LWM
  • High-speed camera with 10 kHz frame rate
  • Thermographic camera varioTHERM® with 50 Hz frame rate
  • Universal tensile testing machine 10 N to 100 kN

Plastics Technology

  • Disk Laser, λ = 1030 nm, P = 1 kW, cw, fiber diameter 50/200 μm
  • Fiber Laser, λ = 1075 nm, P = 100/200 W, cw, TEM00
  • Fiber Laser, λ = 1080 nm, P = 20 W, cw
  • Diode Laser modules with output powers < 70 W
  • Wavelengths 808, 940, 980, 1490, 1710 und 1908 nm
  • Mask polymer welding machine
  • 6-axis assembly robot
  • CO2 Laser, λ = 10.6 μm, P = 120 W avg., P = 600 W peak power
  • Galvo-Scanner for CO2, v= 3000 mm/s, fi eld size 140 x 140 mm
  • 2D linear-axis system, field size 800 x 800 mm
  • Acusto-optical modulator for CO2, Pmax = 400 W, rise time 1μs
  • UV-VIS-NIR spectrometer
  • Welding process control system