Femtosecond laser interaction with dielectrics has unique characteristics for micromachining, notably non-thermal interaction with materials, precision and flexibility. The nature of this interaction is highly nonlinear due to multiphoton ionization, so the laser energy can be nonlinearly absorbed by the material, leading to permanent change in the material properties in a localized region of Mu-m3. This dissertation demonstrated the potential of these nonlinear interactions induced changes (index modification and ablation for machining) in the dielectrics and explored several practical applications. We studied femtosecond laser ablation of Poly-methayl methacrylate (PMMA) under single and multiple pulse irradiation regimes. We demonstrated that the onset of surface ablation in dielectric surface is associated with surface swelling, followed by material removal. Also, the shape of the ablation craters becomes polarization dependent with increasing fluence, except for circular polarization. The morphology of the damaged/ablated material was examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy. The dynamics of laser ablation of PMMA was simulated using a 2 dimensional Molecular Dynamics model and a 3 dimensional Finite Difference Time Domain model. The results from numerical simulations agreed well with experimental results presented in this thesis. We also demonstrated the formation of nano-pillar within the ablation crater when the surface of bulk-PMMA was irradiated by two femtosecond pulses at a certain delay with energies below single shot ablation threshold. With increasing fluence, the nano-pillar vanished and the structure within the ablation crater resembled volcanic eruption. At higher fluences we demonstrated nanoscale porosity in PMMA. For application, a novel in-line fiber micro-cantilever was fabricated in bend insensitive fiber, that provides details of in-line measurement of frequency and amplitude of vibration, and can be further extended to be used as chemical/bio and temperature sensors. By modifying the refractive index at random spacing within the single mode fiber core, a unique quasi-random micro-cavities fiber laser was fabricated, which exhibits comparable characteristics with a commercial fiber laser in terms of narrow linewidth and frequency stability.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering / Shuting Lei / Lasers have been widely used as a manufacturing tool for material processing, such as drilling, cutting, welding and surface texturing. Compared to traditional manufacturing methods, laser-based material processing is high precision, can treat a wide range of materials, and has no tool wear. However, demanding manufacturing processes emerging from the needs of nano and 3D fabrication require the development of laser processing strategies that can address critical issues such as machining resolution, processing speed and product quality. This dissertation concerns the development of novel laser processing strategies based on spatial, temporal and spectral control of light-matter interaction. In the spatial domain, beam shaping is employed in ultrafast laser micro-processing. Zero-order Bessel beam, generated by an axicon, is used for selective removal of the back contact layer of thin film solar cells. Bessel beam’s propagation-invariance property gives rise to an extension of focal range by orders of magnitude compared to Gaussian beam, greatly increasing process tolerance to surface unevenness and positioning error. Together with the axicon, a spatial light modulator is subsequently used to modify the phase of laser beam and generate superpositions of high-order Bessel beam with high energy efficiency. With the superposed beam, processing speed can be increased significantly, and collateral damage resulting from the ring structures in the zero-order Bessel beam can be greatly suppressed. In the temporal domain, it is demonstrated that ionization in dielectric materials can be controlled with a pair of ultraviolet and infrared pulses. With the assistance of the long-wavelength infrared pulse, nano-scale features are achieved using only a small fraction of threshold energy for the short-wavelength pulse. Computer simulation based on the rate equation model is conducted and found to be in good agreement with experimental results. This study paves the way for future adoption of short-wavelength laser sources, for example in the extreme ultraviolet range, for direct laser nano-fabrication with below-threshold pulse energy. In the spectral domain, a short-wavelength infrared laser is used to generate modification in the bulk of silicon wafers, in an attempt to develop 3D fabrication capabilities in semiconductors. Issues such as spherical aberration correction and examination procedure are addressed. Permanent modification is generated inside silicon by tightly focusing and continuously scanning the laser beam inside the samples, without introducing surface damage. The effect of laser pulse energy and polarization is also investigated. These results demonstrate the potential of controlling laser processing in multiple dimensions for manufacturing purposes, and point to a future when laser can be used as naturally and efficiently as mechanical tools used today, but is targeted at more challenging problems.

The quality of parts fabricated using Laser Solid Freeform Fabrication (LSFF) is highly dependent on the physical phenomena and operating parameters which govern the process. For instance, the thermal stress patterns and intensity, induced throughout the process domain due to the layer-by-layer material deposition and the temperature distribution characteristics, contribute significantly to potential delamination and crack formation across the fabricated part. In this research, some of the main features as well as drawbacks of this technique are studied through a multi-physics analysis of the process. For this purpose, a coupled time-dependent 3D model is developed with which the geometry of the deposited material as well as temperature and thermal stress fields across the process domain can be predicted. In the proposed approach, coupled thermal and stress domains are numerically obtained assuming a decoupled interaction between the laser beam and powder stream. To predict the geometry of the deposited material, once the melt pool boundary is obtained, the process domain is discretized in a cross-sectional fashion based on the powder feed rate, elapsed time, and intersection of the melt pool and powder stream projected on the substrate. Layers of additive material are then added onto the non-planar domain. The main process parameters affected by a multilayer deposition due to the formation of non-planar surfaces, such as powder catchment, are incorporated into the modelling approach to enhance the accuracy of the results. To demonstrate the proposed algorithm and to study the main features of the process, a four-layer thin wall of AISI 304L steel on a substrate of the same material is numerically and experimentally fabricated. The numerical analyses along with the experimental results are then used to investigate the correlation between the temperature-thermal stress fields and crack formation across the fabricated parts. The trend of the results reveals that by preheating the substrate prior to the fabrication process, it is possible to substantially reduce the formed micro-cracks. To demonstrate the feasibility of preheating on the reduction of micro-cracks, several simulations and experiments are performed in which a crack-free result is obtained, with a 22 per cent reduction in thermal stresses when the substrate is preheated to 800 K. The numerical and experimental results are also used to study the circumstances of the microstructural formation during the fabrication process. To conclude this research, the developed modelling approach is further extended to briefly discuss the effects of the path patterns and the main operating parameters on the outcomes of the process. The effects of the material properties and their variations on the temperature distributions and thermal stress fields are studied by fabrication of a thin wall of two Stellite 6 layers and two Ti layers on a stainless steel substrate.

The quality of parts fabricated using Laser Solid Freeform Fabrication (LSFF) is highly dependent on the physical phenomena and operating parameters which govern the process. For instance, the thermal stress patterns and intensity, induced throughout the process domain due to the layer-by-layer material deposition and the temperature distribution characteristics, contribute significantly to potential delamination and crack formation across the fabricated part. In this research, some of the main features as well as drawbacks of this technique are studied through a multi-physics analysis of the process. For this purpose, a coupled time-dependent 3D model is developed with which the geometry of the deposited material as well as temperature and thermal stress fields across the process domain can be predicted. In the proposed approach, coupled thermal and stress domains are numerically obtained assuming a decoupled interaction between the laser beam and powder stream. To predict the geometry of the deposited material, once the melt pool boundary is obtained, the process domain is discretized in a cross-sectional fashion based on the powder feed rate, elapsed time, and intersection of the melt pool and powder stream projected on the substrate. Layers of additive material are then added onto the non-planar domain. The main process parameters affected by a multilayer deposition due to the formation of non-planar surfaces, such as powder catchment, are incorporated into the modelling approach to enhance the accuracy of the results. To demonstrate the proposed algorithm and to study the main features of the process, a four-layer thin wall of AISI 304L steel on a substrate of the same material is numerically and experimentally fabricated. The numerical analyses along with the experimental results are then used to investigate the correlation between the temperature-thermal stress fields and crack formation across the fabricated parts. The trend of the results reveals that by preheating the substrate prior to the fabrication process, it is possible to substantially reduce the formed micro-cracks. To demonstrate the feasibility of preheating on the reduction of micro-cracks, several simulations and experiments are performed in which a crack-free result is obtained, with a 22 per cent reduction in thermal stresses when the substrate is preheated to 800 K. The numerical and experimental results are also used to study the circumstances of the microstructural formation during the fabrication process. To conclude this research, the developed modelling approach is further extended to briefly discuss the effects of the path patterns and the main operating parameters on the outcomes of the process. The effects of the material properties and their variations on the temperature distributions and thermal stress fields are studied by fabrication of a thin wall of two Stellite 6 layers and two Ti layers on a stainless steel substrate.

The main objective of the present research work is to fabricate three dimensional photonic nanostructures in photo-sensitive polymers using a novel diffractive optical element (DOE) based lithography technique. A diffractive optical element is a promising alternative device for 3D fabrication where one DOE creates multiple laser beams in various diffraction orders that are inherently phase-locked and stable for reproducible creation of 3D near-field diffraction patterns from a single laser beam. These near-field patterns are captured inside a photosensitive material like photoresist to fabricate 3D photonic crystal templates. We have demonstrated fabrication of a wide range of 3D structures having different crystal symmetries and different relative crystal axis ratios. The present work has provided 3D photonic crystal nanostructures with uniform optical and structural properties over large sample area (~3-4 mm diameter) and through large 15-50 micron thickness with large number of layers (> 40) having period 550 nm - 650 nm and feature sizes between 200 nm and 300 nm. The short exposure time and small number of process steps shows promise for scaling to very large volume fabrication, dramatically improving the throughput, quality and structural uniformity of 3D periodic nanostructures, especially over that provided by tedious and costly semiconductor processing technology. The diffractive optics lithography is a parallel processing method that is easily scalable to generate centimeter-scale 3D nanostructures having large number of layers in several seconds. Due to low refractive index contrasts these polymer templates possess partial stopgaps along several crystallographic directions which can be practically used in several device or sensor applications where complete bandgap is not necessary. The potential usefulness of these partial stopbands for refractive index sensing of liquids has been demonstrated. These low refractive index polymer structures have been inverted with amorphous silica to convert a "soft" polymer structure to a robust "hard" structure. Further, few preliminary tests were done in fabricating 3D nanostructures into micro-fluidic channels for potential chromatography applications. The practical merits of this 3D fabrication technique will enable new practical manufacturing methods for optical and MEMS applications of 3D micro and nano structures.

The main objective of the present research work is to fabricate three dimensional photonic nanostructures in photo-sensitive polymers using a novel diffractive optical element (DOE) based lithography technique. A diffractive optical element is a promising alternative device for 3D fabrication where one DOE creates multiple laser beams in various diffraction orders that are inherently phase-locked and stable for reproducible creation of 3D near-field diffraction patterns from a single laser beam. These near-field patterns are captured inside a photosensitive material like photoresist to fabricate 3D photonic crystal templates. We have demonstrated fabrication of a wide range of 3D structures having different crystal symmetries and different relative crystal axis ratios. The present work has provided 3D photonic crystal nanostructures with uniform optical and structural properties over large sample area (~3-4 mm diameter) and through large 15-50 micron thickness with large number of layers (> 40) having period 550 nm - 650 nm and feature sizes between 200 nm and 300 nm. The short exposure time and small number of process steps shows promise for scaling to very large volume fabrication, dramatically improving the throughput, quality and structural uniformity of 3D periodic nanostructures, especially over that provided by tedious and costly semiconductor processing technology. The diffractive optics lithography is a parallel processing method that is easily scalable to generate centimeter-scale 3D nanostructures having large number of layers in several seconds. Due to low refractive index contrasts these polymer templates possess partial stopgaps along several crystallographic directions which can be practically used in several device or sensor applications where complete bandgap is not necessary. The potential usefulness of these partial stopbands for refractive index sensing of liquids has been demonstrated. These low refractive index polymer structures have been inverted with amorphous silica to convert a "soft" polymer structure to a robust "hard" structure. Further, few preliminary tests were done in fabricating 3D nanostructures into micro-fluidic channels for potential chromatography applications. The practical merits of this 3D fabrication technique will enable new practical manufacturing methods for optical and MEMS applications of 3D micro and nano structures.

Scania Ferruform AB is an independent affiliate of the truck- and bus manufacturer Scania AB which produces rear axle housings among other chassis components for said vehicles. The banjo part, i.e. the base of the rear axle housings undergoes processes which have issues both in terms of exceeded technical life span and insufficient production capacity. These three processes consist of both milling and welding operations. In order to resolve these issues the discussion of future investments arise. As this is discussed, the question whether alternative technologies could be of interest, specifically the performance of welding- and cutting operations with the use of laser technologies. By reviewing state-of-the-art literature, studying the present production conditions and interviewing experts within academia as well as parties active in developing and supplying industrial laser systems it has been shown that a laser arc hybrid welding technique would be the most suitable replacement, while laser nitrogen cutting would be the most suitable cutting technique. This project presents the theoretical outcome of implementing laser arc hybrid welding as a replacement to the present and conventional gas metal arc welding, as well as the possibility of using laser nitrogen cutting as a replacement to a set of milling processes. The study has shown that by implementing these technologies in a manner which also alters the balance in performed operations achieves a cycle time below the future goal for each production section. Cycle time values, quantities and costs are expressed with an indexed value of t, n and k respectively due to confidentiality. The first investment scenario results in an annual saving of consumption costs by 4 738k SEK, with a total investment cost of 112 743k SEK and 6,9 years pay-off time. The second scenario results in an annual saving of consumption costs by 5 018k SEK, with a total investment cost of 114 843k SEK and 5,2 years pay-off time. The third scenario is similar to the second in terms of the manufacturing processes, but it is the alternative of the lowest investment cost. This scenario would result in the same sum of annual savings as the second scenario, but with an investment cost of 89 843k SEK and 0,2 years pay-off time.

Le besoin d'une très grande précision lors du traitement des matériaux par laser a fortement encouragé le développement des études de l'effet des impulsions ultra brèves pour la structuration des matériaux à une échelle micro et nano métrique. Une diffusion d'énergie minimale et une forte non linéarité de l'interaction permet un important confinement énergétique à des échelles les plus petites possibles. La possibilité d'introduire des changements de phases rapides et même de créer de nouveaux états de matière ayant des propriétés optimisées et des fonctions améliorées donne aux impulsions ultra brèves de sérieux arguments pour être utilisées dans des dispositifs très précis de transformation et de structuration des matériaux. L'étude de ces mécanismes de structuration et, en particulier, de leurs caractéristiques dynamiques, est une clé pour l'optimisation de l'interaction laser-matière suivant de nombreux critères utiles pour les procédés laser : efficacité, précision, qualité. Ce mémoire synthétise les travaux de l'auteur sur l'étude statique et dynamique du dépôt d'énergie ultra rapide, avec application aux procédés laser. La connaissance de la réponse dynamique des matériaux après irradiation laser ultra brève montre que les temps de relaxation pilotent l'interaction lumière-matière. Il est alors possible d'adapter l'énergie déposée à la réponse du matériau en utilisant les toutes récentes techniques de mise en forme spatio temporelle de faisceaux. Un couplage optimal de l'énergie donne la possibilité d'orienter la réponse du matériau vers un résultat recherché, offrant une grande flexibilité de contrôle des procédés et, sans doute, la première étape du développement de procédés « intelligents ».

Das Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit bestand in der Integration einer Technologie zur Erzeugung zeitlich alternierender (gepulster) Gasströme auf dem Gebiet der Laserfügetechnik. Für die technische Realisierung implizierte dies spezifische Anpassungen der drei Systemkernelemente (Stelleinheit, Messstrecke, Regelung) bzw. eine vollständige Neukonzeption des Technologieaufbaus. Die somit dem Anwender zur Verfügung stehenden neuen Parameter ermöglichten eine positive Beeinflussung des Fügeprozesses bzw. der Schweißergebnisse. Über die zeitliche Steuerung des Gasvolumenstroms in Korrespondenz zum Laserstrahlschweißprozess gelang es, mit Schutzgaspulsen eine Krafteinwirkung auf die Schmelze hervorzurufen und dadurch eine Verbesserung in Hinblick auf die Einschweißcharakteristik von lasergeschweißten Nähten zu realisieren. / The present study focuses on the integration of a technology for generating temporally alternating (pulsed) gas flows in the field of laser welding. The technical realization required the specific adaptation of the three core elements of the system (valve, section of measurements, control system) or rather a completely new concept of the technological setup. The new parameters allow for a positive influence on the joining process and on the results of welding, respectively. By means of temporal control of the gas volume flow in combination with a laser welding process, it was possible to produce a force effect on the molten.