Service performance of all materials is determined by the structure-property relationship of the materials. However, the
analysis of microstructure of an alloy has, to date, been limited to time- and labor-intensiveanalysis such as optical or
scanning electron microscopes after material is synthesized. Presently there is no known method determining the
microstructure during the material synthesis process. Here we report that the phase transformation can affect the
characteristics of laser induced plasma during a direct laser material synthesis process. The plasma spectral line intensity
ratio from different elements is only proportional to the elemental concentration within the same phase. The linear
relationship is broken when there is a phase change and a new linear relationship is formed within the range of the new
phase. This phase related plasma change indicates the initial nucleation of the crystallography of the alloy in early stage.
This phase determined plasma characteristics will be applicable for in-situ phase transformation identification in real
time during material synthesis process where plasma is generated. For synthesis where plasma is not generated, pulsed
laser induced plasma can be used to sample the synthesized material for phase identification.
Photolithography is well established in the fabrication of microfluidic networks; however,
it is difficult to fabricate designs which require multiple depths. Furthermore, the cost/time
to produce photolithographic masks is problematic, particularly when prototyping. Here
we describe fabrication of microfluidic branching networks with multi-depth structures,
ranging from 10s to 100s of microns, using a femtosecond fiber laser with 10 W average
power, followed by chemical etching in a 10:1 solution of 49% HF and 69% HNO3. While
this technique was originally developed using a nanosecond laser, this unique femtosecond
laser enables greater processing precision and faster overall processing speed.
We describe maskless rapid prototyping of a micro-fluidic branching network on a silicon wafer with laser direct writing
(LDW). The branching micro-channel network is designed as a blood oxygenator following Murray's law and satisfying
the necessity of equal path lengths. In development of such micro-fluidic structures, this maskless process will reduce
time and cost compared with the conventional photolithography based technique. The flexibility of laser direct writing
facilitates creating a multi-depth structure of the branching network, ranging from a few microns to a few hundred
microns in depth. In order to create such a wide range of feature sizes, a nanosecond pulsed Nd-YAG laser and a
femtosecond pulsed fiber laser are used together. The femtosecond fiber laser is used to create micro-channels with a
depth of less than 50μm. As post-processing, a chemical etching in a solution of HF and HNO3 is applied to smooth the
laser ablated surface. To realize an optimized design of micro-fluidic structures, influences of operating parameters, such
as the pulse energy, the focal position, the transverse speed, and the number of passes, on the depth of micro-channels
and their surface quality are investigated. Using the laser machined silicon structures as a mold, a
Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) replica is created.
Breinan and Kear first reported fabrication of three-dimensional metallic components via layer by layer laser cladding in 1978 and subsequently a patent was issued to Brown et al. in 1982. Recently, various groups are working world wide on different types of layered manufacturing techniques for fabrication of near net shape metallic components. Integration of lasers with multi-axis presently available CNC machines, CAD/CAM, sensors and powder metal delivery through co-axial nozzles along with the laser beam are the main innovations for fabrication of 3-Dimensional components. Continuous corrective measures during the manufacturing process are necessary to fabricate net shape functional parts with close tolerances and acceptable residual stress. The closed loop Direct Metal Deposition(DMD) System, using an optical feedback loop along with a CNC working under the instructions from a CAD/CAM software, indicate that it can produce three dimensional components directly from the CAD data eliminating intermediate machining and reduces final machining considerably. This technology is now being commercialized.
Quest for a material to suit the service performance is almost as old as human civilization. So far materials engineers have developed a series of alloys, polymers, ceramics, and composites to serve many of the performance requirements in a modern society. However, challenges appear when one needs to satisfy more than one boundary condition. For example, a component with negative Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) using a ductile metal was almost impossible until recently. Synthesis of various technologies such as Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) Homogenization Design Method (HDM) and mutli material Computer Aided Design (CAD) was necessary to achieve this goal. Rapid fabrication of three-dimensional shapes of engineering materials such as H13 tool steel and nickel super alloys are now possible using Direct Materials Deposition (DMD) technique as well as similar techniques such as Light Engineered New Shaping (LENS) or Directed Light Fabrication (DLF). However, DMD has closed loop capability that enables better dimension and thermal cycle control. This enables one to deposit different material at different pixels with a given height directly from a CAD drawing. The feedback loop also controls the thermal cycle. H13 tool steel is one of the difficult alloys for deposition due to residual stress accumulation from martensitic transformation. However, it is the material of choice for the die and tool industry. DMD has demonstrated successful fabrication of complicated shapes and dies and tools, even with H13 alloys. This process also offers copper chill blocks and water-cooling channels as the integral part of the tool. On the other hand ZrO2 was co-deposited with nickel super alloys using DMD. Flexibility of the process is enormous and essentially it is an enabling technology to marterialize many a design. Using DMD in conjunction with HDM and multi-material CAD, one can produce components with predetermined performance such as negative co-efficient of expansion, by synthesis of designed microstructure. This paper briefly reviews the state of the art of DMD and describes the synthesis of three core technologies to produce designed materials with desired performance.
Diode pumped Nd:YAG lasers are becoming a potentially powerful tool for microelectronics packaging and micro- machining. One of the major advantages of such lasers is high brightness and pulse formatting capability. This offers a tool for controlled materials removal or micro-welding. The recently developed high power diode pumped Nd-YAG laser with Slab geometry opened the door for even higher power density. On the other hand, high brightness poses a challenge for management of laser-induced plasma for process stability and repeatability. In order to develop the fundamental understanding of the role of plasma during the laser micro-machining, one needs to fully characterize the plasma density. Laser absorption spectroscopy is a good tool for that purpose since it measures the events near the ground level where population is high and thus measurements are more accurate. This paper describes the technique and presents the results.
Intermixing of the well and barrier layers in quantum well infrared photodetectors (QWIPs) can be used to realize a broadened spectral response as well as multiple color detectors. We describe die experimental results of both rapid thermal annealing (RTA) and laser annealing (LA) QWIPs operating in the 8-12µm regime. The peak spectral response of the annealed detectors was shifted to longer wavelength as compared to die as-grown detectors. In general, a decrease in detector performance after annealing is also observed which may be attributable to a change in the absorption coefficient caused by the out-diffiision of dopants during annealing. Recent advances in growth technology, complimented by innovative structures should offset any degredation in performance. Thus, the post-growth control of the composition profiles by annealing offers opportunities to fine tune various aspects of a QWIP’s response.
Titanium nitride (TiN) has been deposited by laser chemical vapor deposition (LCVD) using a CO2 laser and N2, H2, and TiCl4 reactant gases. Multi-wavelength pyrometry has been used to determine deposition temperatures. Growth rates based on film height are typically 3000 - 10000 angstroms/second. Film profiles are Gaussian with a coarsened polyhedral morphology that show a marked size dependence on deposition temperature. Auger analyses reveal a substoichiometric composition (N/Ti < 1), regardless of reactant gas composition or deposition temperature. Previous work on TiN LCVD suggested a two-regime mechanism, depending on gas composition. By eliminating temperature variation, this work suggests a one-mechanism field over the whole range of gas compositions.
The role of convection in controlling laser melted pool geometry such as pool shape, undercut, and ripples; defects such as variable penetration, porosity, and lack offusion; and properties such as homogeneity has been studied by a number of researchers. This paper reviews the state-of-the art research in this area.
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