Multibeam Healing for Laser Micromachining in Manufacturing

描述(由申请人提供)：由于激光制造方法具有降低成本的潜力，因此在医疗应用中使用激光制造方法有相当大的兴趣。事实上，激光的精度和低力特征使其成为传统加工方法的极具吸引力的替代方案，用于高分辨率医学成像中的脆性材料，如氧化硅酸锶(LSO)和硅酸钆(GSO)。然而，激光加工过程中的材料损伤，特别是微裂纹是一个经常遇到的问题，它会导致成本增加、不必要的报废和性能/可靠性的降低。我们建议开发一种多光束激光修复技术来消除在激光加工闪烁体等脆性材料时形成的微裂纹的可行性。我们将同时使用多光束方法进行微加工和缺陷修复，以提高激光制造过程中的强度/可靠性。实验研究将得到该过程的有限元模拟的支持，包括损伤诱导热应力的计算。激光修复的研究将显著提高激光加工的成品率和可靠性，从而使成本降低一个数量级。此外，激光像素化技术导致的像素间间隙的减少将显著提高探测器的性能。因此，提出的研究具有很大的商业意义，特别是在高分辨率医学成像应用方面。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is a considerable interest in using laser-manufacturing methods for medical applications due to their potential to reduce cost. In fact, the precision and low-force signature of lasers makes them very attractive alternatives to traditional machining methods for brittle materials such as lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO) and gadolinium oxyorthosilciate (GSO) used in high-resolution medical imaging. However, material damage, especially micro-scale cracking, during laser machining is a frequently encountered problem that results in added costs, needless scrap, and reduced performance/reliability. We propose to demonstrate the feasibility of developing a multibeam laser healing technique to eliminate micro-cracks formed during laser machining of brittle materials like scintillators. We will use a simultaneous multibeam approach for micromachining and defect healing to improve the strength/reliability during laser manufacturing. Experimental investigations will be supported by finite-element modeling of the process including the calculation of damage inducing thermal-stresses. The proposed research on laser healing will significantly improve both yield and reliability during laser machining, resulting in an order of magnitude reduction in cost. Additionally, the reduced inter-pixel gaps resulting from the laser pixelation technique will significantly improve detector performance. Therefore, the proposed research has great commercial relevance, especially for high-resolution medical imaging applications.