Pre-heating by defocusation of the CO

The laser beam polishing for glass and plastics is a purely thermal process and melts the ground or lapped structures to a depth of limited extent. This results in a smoothing of the surface, whereby the 1st - 4th order shape deviations can be corrected very well and transparent surfaces are created. The process is excellently suited for quartz glasses and other optical glasses with a low coefficient of expansion α. Furthermore, thermoplastics or metallic molds for injection molding and precision molding applications can also be polished with the laser beam. On the other hand, special measures are required for glasses with a high α, e.g. preheating of the component. For the investigations, a defocused laser beam was used for the defined preheating of glasses with high linear expansion coefficients. After reaching the material-specific preheating temperature, the laser beam was focused and the polishing process started. A defined cooling process follows again with a defocused beam. In this way, a ground biconvex lens made of boron crown glass was successfully polished. The laser-polished surfaces have an RMS value of 1- 3 nm. The polishing process can be used very flexibly. Likewise, very differently shaped optical components can be polished. The newly developed polishing regime is transferable to other optical glasses with high linear expansion coefficients

Endkonturnahes selektives Lasersintern von keramischen Pulvern

In der aktuellen Forschung werden die Eigenschaften und Anwendungen von ultrakurzgepulster Laserstrahlung im selektiven Lasersintern von keramischen Pulvern untersucht. Die hohe Verschleißfestigkeit und Biokompatibilität prädestinieren Keramiken für vielfältige technische und medizinische Anwendungen. Hohe Rissneigung durch Temperaturgradienten im Sinterprozess, sowie die hohen Schmelztemperaturen sind dabei Herausforderungen und stehen im Fokus der Technologieentwicklung. Die Nutzung einer inversen Schichterzeugungskinematik ermöglicht einen effizienten Pulverauftrag. Kerninnovation ist die Anwendung des Ultrakurzpulslasers. Mit diesem gelingt es, sowohl Zirkonoxid als auch Aluminiumoxid in verschiedenen stofflichen Konfigurationen zu sintern, wobei stabile und teilweise glasierte Oberflächen sowie stapelbare Sinterschichten erfolgreich erzeugt werden.In current research, the properties and applications of ultra-short pulsed laser radiation in the selective laser sintering of ceramic powders are explored. The high wear resistance and biocompatibility of ceramics make them usable for a wide range of technical and medical applications. Challenges, such as a high propensity for cracking due to temperature gradients during the sintering process and the elevated melting temperatures, are central to technology development. The use of an inverse layer generation kinematics enables efficient powder application. The core innovation is the application of the ultrashort pulse laser. With this, it is possible to sinter both zirconia and alumina in various material configurations, successfully producing stable and partially glazed surfaces as well as stackable sintered layers