UKP Workshop: Say Farewell to Cold Ablation
Aachen, Germany, April 26–27, 2017
A substantial topic at the 4th UKP Workshop was heat transfer in ultrafast ablation. Thomas Graf (right) said: ‘We haven’t fully understood yet, how much heat is left from ultrafast pulses in the material’. (Copyright Fraunhofer ILT, Aachen).
On April 26 and 27, the 4th UKP Workshop: Ultrafast Laser Technology united about 150 experts from the academic and industrial ultrafast laser community in Aachen, Germany. The bi-annual workshop reflects the trends in this exciting field from basic research up to fully automated systems for manufacturing.
While everyone agrees on the benefits of ultrafast (aka, ultra-short pulse) lasers, namely, an extremely precise ablation without debris, there is much debate at the moment on how the new generation of high-power systems with up to 100 W can be used to drive productivity.
It is fast and precise but not cold!
Beside productivity, some findings from the academic research were particularly exciting this year: Beat Neuenschwander from Bern University of Applied Science (Switzerland) and Thomas Graf from Stuttgart University (Germany) showed experimental and theoretical evidence that the concept of cold ablation does not hold for high-power ultrafast laser processing of metals.
In fact, heat is deposited and transferred to the adjacent material from high repetition rate ultrafast pulses. Neuenschwander showed a lot of interesting experimental findings beyond that. For example, he found a maximum ablation efficiency for several metallic materials depending on the laser fluence.
Both scientists agreed on the fact that thermal effects are critical for ultrafast laser ablation in industrial applications. To retain benefits such as a very limited melt zone or debris-free processing, the laser parameters have to be selected carefully. Proper laser parameters have been investigated for materials such as copper or steel, but a complete description of the underlying physics and material science is currently not available.
How to get the horse power on the road?
So far, ultrafast lasers have occupied some niche markets. Productivity is now seen as the key to larger markets. Today, big sources are available; the main obstacle is seen in the process and system technology for using such power on larger areas.
Two ways for enhanced productivity have been presented: fast scanners with more than 1000 m/s (Scanlab) and multi-beam solutions where patterns with up to 600 beams are generated out of one beam (Fraunhofer ILT). Both approaches are promising, but still under evaluation.
Another important trend is the use of special fibers for the flexible distribution of ultrafast laser beams. PT Photonic Tools presented photonic crystal fibers with a damage threshold of up to 1 GW/cm². Additional effects such as beam shortening or frequency conversion will be available from gas-filled fibers.
Trends and applications
Two sessions were devoted to industrial applications. Fully automated systems for applications in semiconductor and glass processing were presented. One had two heads for more productivity (Manz AG), another one combined pico- and nanosecond lasers in one machine (GF Machining Solutions). New applications are expected in texturing, structuring, and engraving on large surfaces for automotive, ICT, and packaging.
Still, a simple machine tool is missing as workshop organizer Arnold Gillner from Fraunhofer ILT pointed out in the end. It will be worth to watch for the next UKP workshop on April 10 and 11, 2019, as one major outcome of this year’s workshop is that: The industrial application of ultrafast laser is just at the beginning.
(A modified version of this text has first been published with Laser Focus World).
Multi-beam solutions use diffractive optical elements (DOE) to generate a pattern of beamlets. Combined with zoom optics or even scanners they offer an attractive approach to increased productivity for ultrafast laser applications. (Copyright Fraunhofer ILT, Aachen).
Preview: LASER world of Photonics 2017
Munich, June 26–29, 2017
LASER World of PHOTONICS, the international trade fair for the laser and photonics industry, has been held in Munich since 1973. Today, it is probably the biggest event related to the photonics industry and research in the world. Every 2 years, key players and decision-makers come to Munich to meet at ‘the LASER’, as it is called.
In 2015, the trade fair set a new record with 1227 exhibiting companies and 31,279 visitors. While they opened a new hall last time, the exhibition space will remain at 55,000 m² this year.
A number of related events accompany the trade show, most notably the World of Photonics Congress, held from June 25 to 29 in the Congress Center right beside the fairgrounds. There, several German, European, and American societies host almost a dozen conferences and workshops that will be introduced below. Independently, the trade fair offers a comprehensive program of events on the fairgrounds, including several stages with full-day lecture and panel programs, several award ceremonies, and other events.
Getting around the trade show
The fair occupies five halls at the Munich fairgrounds. After arriving through the west entrance, visitors may register for the fair or the congress and then enter the fairgrounds. The fair is separated into several exhibition sectors:
Hall A2: Imaging, Sensors, Test and Measurement/Optical Measurement Systems
Hall A2/A3: Lasers and Laser Systems for Production Engineering
Hall B1: Optics/Manufacturing Technologies for Optics
Hall B2/B3: Laser and Optoelectronics
Hall B2: Biophotonics and Medical Engineering
Hall B3: Optical Information and Communication
ICM/Hall B0: World of Photonics Congress
What has changed? ‘Lasers and optoelectronics’ in B3 vanished; quite reasonably, it is all summed up under ‘Optical Information and Communication’ in Hall B3 this year.
Messe München is offering free wireless internet access (WiFi name: messeWifi) to all LASER World of PHOTONICS visitors at the trade-fair center. Bandwidth is up to 1.5 Mbit/s, and the download volume is limited to 50 MB per user per day.
Five Special picks and tips for the exhibition
Primarily, the Laser World of Photonics in Munich is a trade show, but the organizers make considerable effort to make it a true community event. Beyond a simple walk through the halls, the visitor may find plenty of events to learn about recent trends or to meet interesting people. For those looking for new trends, they offer four stages in the halls with application panels and an almost continuous program. Those who go there to meet people may enjoy a number of parties such as the Bavarian evening (Monday 18:15), award ceremonies, and even a breakfast where a direct exchange is possible. The most difficult will be scheduling. Therefore, a few personal picks are shown here:
Booth parties: Reserve your Tuesday afternoon for the booth parties. In recent years, TOPTICA Photonics AG (B2-103) built a reputation for the best booth party of the whole trade show. You cannot miss it.
The Start-Up World in Hall B3 gives new, innovative companies from Germany and abroad an opportunity to present their products in front of the critical eye of industry professionals.
The CEO Breakfast on Tuesday morning at 7:30. This invitation-only event is a good occasion for seeing and being seen and, of course, for making new contacts.
‘International Laser Marketplace’ organized by OPTECH CONSULTING and LASER World of PHOTONICS will give an exclusive update on the world’s most important laser markets to CEOs and investors. It is a separate event with separate ticketing (475 €).
The half-day symposium will revolve around latest trends in the laser markets, such as electromobility, Industry 4.0, and semiconductor manufacturing. Furthermore, the forum will focus on four key laser markets: China, India, Japan, and Turkey. It takes place on Wednesday, June 28, 12:45 to 17:00 at the Conference Room above the press center.
Make Light MAKEATHON in Hall B3: A first-of-its-kind event that will bring together 80 smart minds, mainly students and young engineers. Different teams will develop innovative hard- and software in only 24 h, starting on June 27, 2017. Right afterward, a jury will award prices for the best product.
More recommendations and some live impressions from LASER 2017 will be published on twitter at https://twitter.com/photonics_news.
Six conferences covering all of photonics
Through all the years, it has been a challenge to oversee the complex program of the World of Photonics congress. There are now six conferences including the new event on Digital Optical Technologies. Almost 3500 lectures and posters will be presented to probably more than 5600 participants. If that is not enough, there will be 16 application panels in the exhibition halls featuring nearly 100 practice-oriented presentations.
CLEO®/Europe-EQEC 2017. With 1705 presentations, the European Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics and the European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO®/Europe-EQEC) is the largest, most comprehensive, and most prestigious gathering of optics and photonics researchers and engineers in Europe.
This conference invites for guided laboratory tours through selected Munich (Garching) Laser Laboratories. Tours will take place on Friday morning, June 30, 2017 from 10:00 to 12:00.
Participants can sign up for the laboratory visits during the conference: sign up on lists will hang on the message board located in the corridor between Entrance West and ICM.
Lasers in Manufacturing (LiM) 2017. LiM is the place to go for laser material processing, including process engineering, system technology, and process optimization. LiM is organized by the German Scientific Laser Society (WLT). Beside a comprehensive program, they offer a LiM Get-together at Augustiner Bierkeller on Tuesday evening.
EOS Topical Meetings. The topical meetings organized by the European Optical Society (EOS) focus on the latest trends in the development, manufacture, and testing of optical components and optofluidics and deal with optomechanical and light engineering. In 2017, they include the following conferences:
5th Conference on Manufacturing of Optical Systems
4th Conference on Optofluidics
2nd Conference on Light Engineering
2nd Conference on Optomechanical Engineering (Merged into Manufacturing of Optical Systems conference)
SPIE Optical Metrology. Optical Metrology is organized by SPIE Europe. This year, they focus on 2017 Conference topics
Optical Measurement Systems for Industrial Inspection
Modeling Aspects in Optical Metrology
O3A: Optics for Arts, Architecture, and Archaeology
Videometrics, Range Imaging, and Applications
Optical Methods for Inspection, Characterization, and Imaging of Biomaterials
Automated Visual Inspection and Machine Vision
Highly recommended are two of their plenary presentations:
Federico Capasso (Harvard University, USA) ‘Metasurface Diffractive Optics’
Jörg Wrachtrup (University of Stuttgart, Germany) ‘Putting a Spin on Photons’
New: SPIE Digital Optical Technologies: Is a new conference focused on the components, systems design, and applications of emerging digital optical technologies in all social, academic, medical, and industrial areas.
The conference reflects trends in recent technologies such as 3D sensors, immersive multimedia, novel displays, light sources, and imaging systems. Digital optical technologies include optics designed by digital means, fabricated by digital means, with functionalities enhanced or altered by digital techniques (computational optics or dynamic optics).
http://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/digital- optical-technologies
The new conference on Digital Optical Technologies offers an interactive personal demo session on Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality (Image: SPIE).
European Conferences on Biomedical Optics (ECBO). Sponsored by OSA and SPIE, the European Conferences on Biomedical Optics bring together scientists, engineers, and clinicians who work with optics and photonics to solve problems in medicine and biomedicine. This year’s categories are:
Clinical and Preclinical Optical Diagnostics
Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy and Imaging
Novel Biophotonics Techniques and Applications
Advances in Microscopic Imaging
Opto-Acoustic Methods and Applications
Optical Coherence Imaging Techniques and Imaging in Scattering Media
Medical Laser Applications and Laser-Tissue Interactions
Head and Neck Optical Diagnostics and Intervention (held in conjunction with ECBO)
www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/topical_meetings/euro pean_conferences_on_biomedical_optics/
Conference Calendar
June
118. Annual Meeting DGaO
Dresden, Germany
June 6–10, 2016
Laser Ignition Conference
Bucharest, Romania
June 20–23, 2017
www.osa.org/Meetings/Topical_Meetings/Laser_Ignition_Conference
LASER World of Photonics
Munich, Germany
June 26–29, 2017
European Conferences on Biomedical Optics (ECBO)*
SPIE Optical Metrology*
Lasers in Manufacturing (LiM 2017)*
CLEO Europe*
Munich, Germany
June 25–29, 2017
NEW: SPIE Digital Optical Technologies*
Munich, Germany
June 26–29, 2017
http://spie.org/conferences-and-exhibitions/digital-optical-technologies
EOS Optical Technologies*
EOS Conference on Manufacturing of Optical Systems
EOS Conference on Optofluidics
EOS Conference on Light Engineering
EOS Conference on Optomechanical Engineering
Munich, Germany
June 26–29, 2017
www.myeos.org/events/photonics-congress-2017
*AOT will be presented at the World of Photonics Congress, probably with a separate booth in the congress center. For more information, please contact us at: contact@advanced-optics.org
OSA Imaging and Applied Optics Congress
3D Image Acquisition and Display: Technology, Perception, and Applications
Applied Industrial Optics
Computational Optical Sensing and Imaging
Imaging Systems and Applications
Mathematics in Imaging
Propagation Through and Characterization of Atmospheric and Oceanic Phenomena
San Francisco, CA, USA
June 26–29, 2017
www.osa.org/Meetings/OSA_Meetings/Imaging_and_Applied_Optics_Congress
July
OSA Optical Design and Fabrication Congress
International Optical Design Conference
Optical Fabrication and Testing
Freeform Optics
Denver, CO, USA
July 9–13, 2017
www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/osa_meetings/optical_design_and_fabrication/
OSA Advanced Photonics Congress
Integrated Photonics Research, Silicon, and Nano-Photonics
Novel Optical Materials and Applications
Optical Sensors
Photonic Networks and Devices
Photonics in Switching
Signal Processing in Photonics Communications
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
July 24–27, 2017
www.osa.org/Meetings/OSA_Meetings/Advanced_Photonics
2017 CLEO Pacific Rim Conference
Singapore, Singapore
July 31–August 4, 2017
August
SPIE Optics+Photonics
San Diego, California, USA
August 6–10, 2017
International Conference on Group IV Photonics
Berlin, Germany
August 23–25, 2017
www.photonicssociety.org/conferences/international-conference-on-group-iv-photonics
September
SPIE Security+Defense
Remote Sensing
Warsaw, Poland
September 11–14, 2017
SPIE Photomask Technology+EUV Lithography
Monterey, California, USA
September 11–14, 2017
FiO/LASER Science 101st OSA Annual Meeting
Washington, DC, USA
September 17–21, 2017
www.frontiersinoptics.com/home/
5th EOS Topical Meeting on Blue Photonics
Sopot, Poland
NEW: September 18–20, 2017
October
ASSL
Nagoya, Japan
October 1–5, 2017
www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/global_calendar/events/advanced_solid_state_lasers/
30th IEEE Photonics Conference
Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA
October 1–5, 2017
www.photonicssociety.org/conferences/ieee-photonics-conference
SPIE Optifab
Rochester, New York, USA
October 16–19, 2017
FOC 2017 Frontier of Optical Coating
Guangzhou, China
October 22–26, 2017
32nd ASPE Annual Meeting
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
October 29–November 3, 2017
November
OSA Light, Energy and the Environment Congress
Optical Nanostructures and Advanced Materials for Photovoltaics (PV), Optics and Photonics for Energy & the Environment (E2), Optics for Solar Energy (SOLAR), Solid-State Lighting (SSL)
Boulder, Colorado, USA
November 6–9, 2017
http://www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/osa_meetings/osa_light_energy_and_the_environment_congress/
The 22nd Microoptics Conference MOC2017
Tokyo, Japan
November 19–22, 2017
2018
SPIE Photonics West
San Francisco, California, USA
January 27–February 1, 2018
Exhibition: January 30–February 1, 2018
SPIE Advanced Lithography
San Jose, CA, USA
February 18–22, 2018
OFC
San Diego, CA, USA
March 11–15, 2018
OSA Biophotonics Congress: Biomedical Optics
Clinical and Translational Biophotonics Optics and the Brain Optical Tomography and Spectroscopy
Hollywood, Florida, USA
April 3–6, 2018
http://www.osa.org/en-us/meetings/osa_meetings/osa_biophotonics_congress_biomedical_optics/
SPIE Defense+Commercial Sensing
Orlando, Florida, USA
April 15–19, 2018
SPIE Photonics Europe
Strassbourg, France
April 23–26, 2018
Exhibition
April 24–25, 2018
AKL’18 International Laser Technology Congress
Aachen, Germany
May 2–4, 2018
LASYS
Stuttgart, Germany
June 5–7, 2018
SLT’18 – Stuttgart Laser Technology Forum
Co-located with LASYS
Stuttgart, Germany
June 5–7, 2018
SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation
Austin, Texas, USA
June 10–15, 2018
http://spie.org/astronomical-instrumentation.xml
IEEE RAPID Conference
Research and Applications of Photonics In Defense Conference (RAPID)
Miramar Beach, Florida, USA
August 22–24, 2018
www.photonicssociety.org/conferences/ieee-rapid
SPIE Optics+Photonics
San Diego, California, USA
August 19–23, 2018
Exhibition
August 21–23, 2018
SPIE Security+Defence
Berlin, Germany
September 10–13, 2018
Exhibition
September 11–12, 2018
FiO/LASER Science: 102nd OSA Annual Meeting
Washington, DC, USA
September 16–26, 2018
2018
SPIE Photonics West
San Francisco, California, USA
February 2–7, 2019
Exhibition: February 5–7, 2019
SPIE Advanced Lithography
San Jose, California, USA
February 19–22, 2019
5. UKP-Workshop
Aachen, Germany
April 10–11, 2019
SPIE Optifab
Rochester, New York, USA
October 14–17, 2019
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