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Laser material processing—an overview

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2003 J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 5 S3

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INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING JOURNAL OF OPTICS A: PURE AND APPLIED OPTICS
J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 5 (2003) S3–S7 PII: S1464-4258(03)56931-8

REVIEW ARTICLE

Laser material processing—an overview

W M Steen
Emeritus Professor, University of Liverpool, UK
and
Distinguished Research Fellow, University of Cambridge, UK

Received 19 November 2002

Published 25 June 2003
Online at stacks.iop.org/JOptA/5/S3

Abstract
With the invention of the laser came a new form of industrial energy, optical
energy, available for the first time in large and controllable quantities. This
article reviews the characteristics of this new form of industrial power and
how it is being used in material processing from cutting to cleaning. The
article also highlights some of the more exciting recent developments.

Keywords: Laser, material processing, cutting, welding, surface treatment,

cleaning, bending, marking
(Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)

The beginnings of laser material processing go back to the Table 1. The principal lasers employed for materials
writings of science fiction such as ‘The War of the Worlds’ by processing [4, 5].
H G Wells, which was first published in 1898. Such stories % material processing
sowed the seeds of a possible ‘death ray’ and after Einstein, in laser market 2002
1916 [1], had proved mathematically that stimulated emission
Type of laser Value Number of units
was possible, the race was on to develop a ‘death ray machine’
or at least a device using stimulated emission. The military CO2 laser—flowing gas 36 12
potential was, sadly, the main driving force for research whose CO2 laser—sealed 6 29
reward came in 1960 when Maiman invented the first working Solid state laser, lamp pumped 33 22
laser [2]. Solid state laser, diode pumped 4 9
Excimer 18 2
Since then growth of the laser industry has been Diode >10 W 1 0.001
at approximately 10–20% per annum until the recent
recession [3–5]. The reason for this growth is the extraordinary
spread of applications for optical energy from material force will be transferred to the structure. If there is a sufficient
processing to communications, medicine and CD/DVD
flux of photons the force becomes enough to cause the structure
players. There is an analogy between the laser and the dynamo,
to vibrate, which we detect as heat. With greater and greater
whereby the dynamo has given us large and controllable
photon fluxes the vibration becomes sufficient to break the
quantities of electricity—a new form of energy in the 1890s—
solid structure and it first melts, then evaporates; the vapour is
and the laser has given us large and controllable quantities
then ionized forming a plasma and finally the solid is ionized
of optical energy—a new form of energy in the 1990s.
Just as electricity has developed, and is still doing so, into introducing Coulomb forces to remove the material. This last
many unexpected applications from welding to aluminium effect is only achieved with the immense power that is currently
extraction, TV and the Internet, so, it is likely, will optical available with femtosecond pulses. Beyond this power range,
energy. lasers are being used for atomic fusion.
The principal commercial lasers in laser material The advantages of optical energy from a laser compared
processing are shown in table 1. with other forms of energy are:
Optical energy is absorbed by the interaction of the electric
field of the electromagnetic radiation with electrons. If the • Power intensity—one of the highest available to industry
electron is bound within the phonon structure of a solid this today.

1464-4258/03/040003+05$30.00 © 2003 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK S3

W M Steen
° for diesel injectors, ink jet printers and the numerous aerospace
Figure 1. The range of processes.
• Power shaping—this is almost uniquely possible for
optical energy in both time and space.
• Ease of automation—there is an uncluttered interaction
zone with few extraneous signals, allowing a wide open
window for in-process sensing.
• Photolytic processing—this is unique to photons and
opens a new level of chemistry.
• Coherence and spectral purity—this allows strange optical
effects through diffraction, interference and multi-photon
events.
Some of the unusual properties of optical energy are found in
non-linear optics, which may arise when certain materials are
subject to heavy fluxes of photons. These include frequency
doubling in certain birefringent crystals, diffractive optical
elements, adaptive optics and polarization rotation in magnetic
fields—the magnetic Kerr effect.
The range of material processes is illustrated in figure 1.
This diagram also shows lines of constant temperature, which
help to collate the processes. The region of high intensity and
extremely short interaction times labelled as ‘Terra Incognita’
is currently being developed with some surprising results. The
region below the boiling point of water includes many medical
applications. The main material processes are now discussed
in turn.
Cutting [6]: This is possibly the best known of these
applications. It currently accounts for the work being done
by nearly 80% of the industrial laser equipment in service.
The laser is starting to dominate this market since it can cut
more swiftly and neatly than most competing tools. It was also
the first application area for the laser, since there was a ready-
made market for cutting, particularly flat-bed profile cutting.
The laser can cut in at least seven different ways: evaporative,
melt and blow, melt and blow in a reactive gas, thermal
stress cutting for brittle materials, scribing and mechanical
snapping, cold cutting—in which the photon energy is similar
to the bond energy or there is such an instantaneous impact
of energy that the material is ionized and hence flies apart
because of Coulomb forces; in either case there is a negligible
heat-affected zone (HAZ)—and finally laser-assisted oxygen
(LASOX) cutting [7].
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The laser has found applications in both 2D and 3D profile
cutting. There is a niche market in cutting difficult materials
such as nimonics, fibreglass, soft or rubber fabrics that could
suffer from mechanical distortion and radioactive parts, where
only the focusing optics need become contaminated. The ease
of directing the focused beam has led to its application in
cutting in awkward areas, such as cutting sun roofs in car
bodies. The slotting of die boards [8] for the manufacture
of cartons was one of the first applications back in the 1970s,
while the another early application, that of drilling razor blades,
has had a recent reincarnation with the need for precise holes
cooling and aerodynamic subtleties.
Of all these applications, one in particular is of current
significance—that of the ‘laser blanker’. The process
pioneered by Alabama Laser and Fanuc Limited is based upon
not only improving the beam quality and cutting technique,
but also improving the software such that piercing is done
‘on the fly’ and a minimum time is spent between cutting
operations [9]. This latter is achieved by having an X/Y
table driven by linear motors rather than ball screws. The
linear motors are capable of accelerations up to 7 G, but
such forces would rock most equipment and hence they
are usually run throttled back to only 2 G. The result is a
capability to cut some 450 holes min−1 compared to around
200 holes min−1 for conventional punch press machines. In
fact, Finn Power International claims, in their 2002 publicity
literature, 700 holes min−1 of 1.5 mm diameter in 1 mm steel
using a 3.5 kW CO2 laser. The laser has the further advantage
that the hole shape and size is determined by software and there
is no tool wear. The laser is set to become a major player in
cutting machinery.
The development by BOC of the LASOX process [7], in
which the laser acts as a match to the oxygen cutting process,
has shown that this process is capable of making cuts with
square, smooth edges but with larger kerf widths than a laser
(∼2–4 mm). It is also capable of piercing considerably faster
than oxy/fuel or plasma torch processes (5 s compared to 60 s
for 50 mm stock). Thus the thickness range for laser-based
processes has been extended reliably up to 50 mm and in the
laboratory up to 80 mm of mild steel.
Welding [10]: Laser welding is one of the high-quality
welding techniques, being similar to electron beam welding,
in which the energy is so intense that a ‘keyhole’ is developed.
The high-aspect-ratio, almost parallel fusion zone of ‘keyhole’
welds leads to low distortion and a small HAZ compared to
alternative processes (figure 2).
It is also fast and leaves a cosmetically attractive weld
bead. Considerable advances have been made in understanding
both the fluid flow within the keyhole, such as the modelling
work of Mazumder et al [11] and the x-ray work of
Matsunawa [12]. Outside the keyhole, the plasma has
been studied by many, including Greses et al [13] whose
latest paper shows that for welding with a Nd:YAG laser at
wavelength 1.06 µm the plasma is only at ∼2000 ◦ C compared
to ∼8000 ◦ C for CO2 welding at wavelength 10.6 µm. This
knowledge means that the type of shroud gas is not very
important for welding with the shorter wavelengths. This
is a point of considerable interest to industries using large
quantities of shroud gas and where the preferred shroud for
CO2 laser welding is helium.

Figure 2. An example of a laser keyhole weld showing the narrow
parallel fusion zone and HAZ.
The particularly significant development in laser welding
has been the ‘tailored blank’ process [10]. This process builds
press blanks from several pieces of metal of varying thickness
and composition by laser welding them together. The whole
blank is pressed in one operation and hence, for example, a car
inner side panel can be made which has thicker areas for hinges
and galvanized parts for the lower section but not for the top.
Such a process saves on the number of parts to be made, which
in turn means savings in tooling, the press shop and assembly
for those parts. Since the blank is made of smaller pieces,
there are some significant savings in material both on the strips
being cut and the finished car or article being made. This
may result in lighter vehicles. The reduced number of joints,
due to fewer parts, gives improved crash resistance, improved
corrosion resistance, fewer final sealed joints and improved
fatigue life. This is a major breakthrough in industrial thinking
and practice.
Further advances in laser welding may come from the
renewed interest in hybrid welding with the laser and arc
processes being combined [14–16], keyhole stabilizing with
twin beams, underwater welding with fibre optic delivery to
depths of 500 m [17] and hand-held laser welding equipment—
the latter process being of growing interest in the craft world,
which has always yearned for low-HAZ welds, which are
clean, or can be cleaned by an after-blast from the laser—see
later for laser cleaning.
Cladding: This is a relative newcomer and is having
to make its own market since no comparable process has
previously been available for localized precision cladding. The
laser with a coaxial powder feed acts rather like a ‘metal pencil’
(figure 3).
Review Article: Laser material processing
Figure 3. The laser cladding process with coaxial powder feed
delivery—a ‘metal pencil’.
It can write metal tracks of a few micrometres to a
few millimetres in width or height. When these tracks are
superimposed on one another they will build into walls. When
the direction of the tracks is controlled by a computer, whose
programme is a sliced 3D object, then the 3D object can be
built directly, without a mould, in whatever material is being
fed as a powder [18–20]. So the casting could be of varying
composition or of a single material. Of great interest is the
metallurgy of the resulting casting in which the columnar
grains run epitaxially up the wall. Thus the casting has none
of the brittleness associated with standard mould castings
in which the grains run across the wall. There is a new
industry about to be born based on this form of low-volume
manufacture. It is capable of casting almost any object of
almost any complexity—for example detailed structure within
a casting. The complexity of the computing of this form of
casting is formidable but the computing is possible, and once
done is available to all. Such a business exists, founded with
a consortium based on the work of Mazumder [18]. There
are also several job shops using this process to repair turbine
blades and other metal parts.
Laser bending [21, 22]: The process of thermal bending is
not new [23] but is undergoing a revival as a precision process
when used with a laser. But it is a precision bending technique
with no tool contact nor any spring back. The bending action
is due to the formation of a compressive stress in the heated
surface spot leading to plastic flow that is not fully recovered
on cooling. If only the surface is heated (thermal gradient
method) bending will be towards the laser; if heating occurs
through the thickness, buckling may occur allowing bending
either towards or away from the laser or, for fully restrained
pieces, to a shortening of the part (upsetting). The bend region
is thus thickened and not thinned as in normal mechanical
bends. It is currently used by Phillips [24] as a method of final
adjustment to the alignment of the hard disk in their miniature
computers. It is also used for adjusting reed switches inside
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W M Steen
Figure 4. An example of laser bending; a sushi dish made by Silve
in laser-marked aluminium.
glass capsules. The promise of this process is as a ‘virtual
bending tool’—the shape being software driven and there being
no need for hard tooling. Although new and currently the
subject of research around the world, this is a process with a
future. For an example see figure 4.
Laser cleaning [25–27]: This is another novel technique
whereby a blast of light can remove a surface layer of dirt.
The mechanism is thought to be by evaporative processes, as
in ablation; impact processes, as in laser shock cleaning or
laser steam cleaning; or vibration processes, as in transient
thermal heating. In the case of marble statuary the short sharp
pulse from the laser is sufficient to remove dirt and sterilize the
surface at the same time, to reveal marble, whose reflectivity is
higher than the dirty surface, and hence the process is almost
self-correcting. For paintings, the spectrum of the material
ablated can be used to control the depth of cleaning; with
cleaning electronic components during manufacture, the laser-
cleaned surface can sometimes be soldered without the need
for a flux. There is a concept that laser cleaning with a blast of
light could clear an area during the manufacture of integrated
circuits, such that the necessity for cleanliness in whole rooms
is reduced. It is a quiet process that does not require solvents
or abrasive particles; the fumes can be collected by normal
vacuum technology which makes it ideal for cleaning both the
inside and outside of buildings. It is currently used extensively
in aircraft paint stripping where the presence of corrosive fluids
is not welcome [28].
Shock hardening [29]: A strong laser pulse of 10–100 ns
and 100 J or so is proving to be an improvement on shot
peening. It not only avoids throwing shot around with the
problems of surface damage, imbedding, recycling the shot and
limitations for hardening into corners, but it also gives a greater
depth of treatment leading to improved fatigue properties.
Laser marking [30]: Marking with a laser can be achieved
by three main techniques.
• Impressing a dot matrix at high rates of from 3 to 400
characters s−1 .
• Mask marking at the rate of around 100 images s−1 .
• Vector or bitmap marking with a steerable beam at the rate
of 70 characters s−1 .
S6
Figure 5. An example of 3D marking by laser within a glass block.
The ease of marking with a laser, even down to marking
cabling ‘on the fly’, has allowed industry to mark almost
everything they wish for stock keeping, legal indemnity,
security or dating reasons. Figure 5 illustrates a totally novel
method of marking that is possible with optical energy.
In summary, the achievements of laser material processing
over the last 40 years have been impressive and include (a more
detailed discussion can be found in [31]):
• Precision cutting of thick and thin sections with an impact
on most industries.
• Drilling with an impact particularly in the aerospace
industry.
• Tailored blank welding with an impact on the automobile
and sheet metal industries.
• Low-distortion welding with an impact on the shipbuild-
ing industry and others.
• Low-volume manufacture, by weld build techniques, with
an impact on foundries.
• Rapid prototyping, through photopolymerization, with an
impact on the design industry.
• Low-vibration scabbling with an impact on the nuclear
decommissioning industry.
• Marking with an impact on most industries.
• Cleaning with an impact on art, buildings and
manufacturing industries.
Optical energy is one of the most adaptable forms of
industrial energy we have ever seen. We are likely to spend at
least the next century exploring what we can do with it. So far
we have made a good start. However, with laser-based industry
growing at nearly 10%/year there is currently an investment
of approximately 1 M$/graduate trained specifically in the
engineering of optical energy. This is an imbalance that needs
to be corrected or we will suffer from mistakes through our
enthusiasm running ahead of our knowledge.
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