Femtosecond laser and disk laser

Jena, Germany - Jenoptik showed new applications of the JenLas D2.fs femtosecond laser and the JenLas disk IR70E disk laser at Laser World of Photonics.

JenLas D2.fs – a femtosecond laser for the industrial production of medical components

The application of ultra-short pulse technology in the production of medical devices equipment generates advantages that permit new processing methods for complex, delicate patterns in available and also in new, more heat sensitive materials. These positive effects include less damage due to the heat such as, for example, melting damage, and a minimum heat-affected zone.

The focus in the production of stents, in addition to the conventional processing of shape memory alloys, is primarily on processing of the bioresorbable polymers – such as polyactides (PLA) – of less than 300 micron diameter and maximum 100 micron wall thickness. The JenLas D2.fs femtosecond laser generates smallest cutting grooves of approximately 10 microns. Defined material ablation and no damage through the heat treatment makes processing safer.

The JenLas D2.fs can also be used to advantage for precision hole drilling in medical components, such as endoscopes, implants or catheters. In addition, drilling biomedical filters obtains even more delicate patterns and the processing of electrodes of platinum alloy can open up new fields of application in biochemical processes.

Potential uses of the JenLas D2.fs in the medical industry include surface structuring for optimized tissue growth aid or the generation of lotus effects or the development of lab-on-a-chip products. JenLas D2.fs is also useful in industrial environments. The investment costs in the laser are recovered quickly by savings for finishing processes, such as laborious mechanical burr removal and the distinctly higher yield of the production processes.

Processing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics with the JenLas disk IR70E

The JenLas disk IR70E is a diode-pumped single-mode disk laser. Due to the high pulse energy and the short pulse duration this laser is very good for processing carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). The JenLas disk IR70E has a number of advantages over other laser types such as fiber, lamp-pumped or CO2 lasers. Outstanding features include the excellent beam quality in connection with a very high pulse peak power.

When CFRP is processed by the JenLas disk IR70E, the heat affected area remains very small making this disk laser an outstanding tool for functional and optical surfaces. The laser can cut, drill and 3D-ablate CFRP material, because ablation layer by layer can be generated. Besides, the application of the laser neither causes delamination nor foaming of plastics, or discoloration of the drill hole or of the cutting edge area. Very good results are obtained, in particular, with thermosetting CFRP materials.

Processing CFRP by laser still has high development potential in many respects – driven primarily by the quest for higher efficiency in the mobility sector, such as in the aviation industry and in the automotive sector. The demand for CFRP materials is growing rapidly. Laser processing by JenLas disk IR70E is a building block that efficiently closes a process gap.