Exploring Super-Efficient Energy Coupling Mechanisms for Materials Processing and Manufacturing

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AbstractRecently, lasers have been show to offer substantial improvements over conventional techniques for precision material processing and manufacturing because lasers provide clean finish, high repeatability, fast setup, and minimal lateral damage. However, laser processing and manufacturing have a significant disadvantage of low efficiency. For laser material processing, the first and foremost step is to couple laser energy into the target materials. The energy coupling efficiency depends on the properties of both the lasers and materials. In this proposal, we show that material transport properties may be modified under certain experimental conditions when electrons in the materials are excited to a nonequilibrium distribution. This will potentially enhance the energy coupling efficiency for laser material processing. Experimental studies are planned to explore these transport property changes using ultrafast femtosecond laser techniques. This study aims at improving the efficiency of laser energy absorption from a fundamental approach. Students involved in this project will be trained in a broad research area covering both optical and material sciences. This research is being supported by the Thermal Transport and Thermal Processing Program of the Division of Chemical and Transport Systems.