PFI-TT: Development of Novel Lens Technology for Next Generation Laser Manufacturing

该创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是实现更小和更简单的激光打标和激光焊接机，这对供应链管理至关重要，并广泛应用于制药，汽车零部件，航空航天，电子，2020年激光打标机市场规模为27.6亿美元，对美国国家安全和美国的全球工业领导地位至关重要。该PFI项目正在开发的技术将使在复杂的3D几何形状和大台阶高度上进行激光加工成为可能，而无需昂贵和复杂的重新聚焦机制，这可能会为激光打标带来更大的应用空间，同时降低整体成本。拟议的项目将展示用于高功率激光应用的焦深扩展平面透镜。这种提出的平面透镜技术将提高基于激光的材料加工的鲁棒性，允许聚焦高功率激光束的距离比现有技术可能的远得多。这将通过新的逆向设计范例以及新型光学材料来实现。第二个创新来自于组合可编程材料以为这些透镜创建额外的焦点可调谐性，这将例如，能够克服通过易于故障的昂贵电机系统的机械重新聚焦。该PFI项目旨在开发并将这些新的光学技术转化为商业化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is to enable much smaller and simpler laser-marking and laser-welding machines, which are critical for supply-chain management, and very widely used in all types of industries ranging from pharmaceuticals, automobile components, aerospace, electronics, food packaging and so on. The laser-marking machine market size was valued at $2.76 billion in 2020 and it is critical to the US national security and America’s global industrial leadership. The technology being developed in this PFI project will make it possible to perform laser processing over complex 3D geometries and large step heights without expensive and complex refocusing mechanisms, which could lead to a larger application space for laser-marking, while reducing overall costs. The proposed project will demonstrate extended depth of focus flat lenses for high power laser applications. This proposed flat-lens technology will improve the robustness of laser-based materials processing by allowing for focusing high-power laser beams for significantly extended distances than what is possible by the current art. This will be enabled by new inverse design paradigms as well as novel optical materials. A second innovation arises from combining programmable materials to create additional focus tunability for these lenses, which will e.g., enable overcoming mechanical refocusing through costly motor systems that are prone to failure. This PFI project is aimed at developing and translating into commercialization these new optical technologies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.