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，因此对将其用于医疗应用有相当大的兴趣。事实上，激光的精度和低力特征使其成为脆性材料传统加工方法的非常有吸引力的替代品，例如用于高分辨率医学成像的氧硅酸镥（LSO）和氧硅酸钆（GSO）。然而，在激光加工过程中，材料损坏，特别是微尺度裂纹是经常遇到的问题，其导致增加的成本、不必要的废料和降低的性能/可靠性。我们建议证明开发多光束激光愈合技术的可行性，以消除在激光加工脆性材料，如陶瓷时形成的微裂纹。我们将使用同时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。实验研究将支持有限元建模的过程中，包括损伤诱导热应力的计算。拟议的激光愈合研究将显着提高产量和可靠性在激光加工过程中，导致一个数量级的成本降低。此外，由激光像素化技术产生的减小的像素间间隙将显著改善检测器性能。因此，所提出的研究具有很大的商业意义，特别是对于高分辨率医学成像应用。

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.