Kaiserslautern, Germany - The Photonik-Zentrum Kaiserslautern (PZKL), together with six partners, is coordinating the “HiPoRep” project in which a new ultrafast laser system will be developed and tested in specific applications. Participants are the Ferdinand Braun Institute for High Frequency Technologies (Berlin), the AMPHOS GmbH (Herzogenrath), GWU-Lasertechnik (Erftstadt), TOPAG GmbH (Darmstadt), and GFH GmbH (Deggendorf), who will contribute their know-how to the project. The goal is to develop a new generation of ultrafast lasers to be tested in specific applications, as well as introduce it to industrial processes like laser drilling and micromachining.
The research part of the Photonik-Zentrum Kaiserslautern is to develop a new type of monolithic laser amplifier together with a passive energy control system for laser pulses. This project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy via a Central Innovation Program for Small and Medium Enterprises (ZIM project) with €1 million ($1.1 million) over a period of three years.
Micro-materials processing with ultrafast laser pulses (< 10ps) are well established in many industrial applications, such as cutting of solar cells or drilling of fine holes in injection nozzles. Currently available ultrafast laser systems lack the ability to control the exact time at which a single laser pulse is generated and emitted. Yet, various applications ask for an exact triggering of the laser pulse respective of the dynamic adaptation of the repetition-rate-pulses. These requests are being addressed by the project.
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