Laser system for material processing in the micrometer range

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A flexible laser material processing system is of utmost importance for the precise fine structuring of a wide range of materials, for example in ceramic microsystems technology. About one third of the current research work of the Department of Functional Materials at the University of Bayreuth in the field of chemical sensor technology as well as materials and technologies for energy conversion is dependent on the laser system for material processing in the micrometer range - and the trend is increasing. In addition to the replacement of the obsolete UV laser, which has been discontinued by the manufacturer and is also susceptible to faults, the modern picosecond laser system applied for can also be used to process functional materials with minimal heat input and smaller structure widths but with very high precision, speed and flexibility. The ability to directly structure low and high temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC or HTCC ceramics) and to pattern coatings in the micrometer range is particularly advantageous or even indispensable for the miniaturization of self-heated sensor elements or miniaturized analytical devices as well as for the manufacturing of planar high-frequency resonators of high quality. The low thermal input due to this "cold" ablation allows a gentler material removal without thermal damage of the underlying layers. Complex functional layers for gas sensors or metallic layers on flexible plastic substrates or foils can only be structured in this way. Especially the combination with the aerosol-based cold deposition of powders of different material classes (Powder Aerosol Deposition Method, PADM), which has been further developed as the European leader in this field, enables completely new applications and material pairings, since both layer formation and structuring are then possible at room temperature. The applied picosecond laser system, equipped with a camera-based positioning system, automatic focusing and a measuring microscope, represents an elementary important, flexible and high-precision tool for the Department of Functional Materials and its research work, with which the spectrum of processable materials and structure widths can be significantly expanded and which enables the comparatively simple and fast production of prototypes. New functionalities, measuring effects as well as innovative approaches are conceivable and are to be developed in new research projects, especially in connection with the powder aerosol deposition of functional materials.