ULTRASHORT LASER PROCESSING


Future work will integrate beam shaping and burst-mode operation to further increase throughput and will directly correlate cutting quality with electrochemical cell performance.


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


The authors acknowledge the funding from the Greater Manchester Innovation Accelerator - Advanced Materials Innovation Cluster, for the Centre of Expertise in Advanced Materials and Sustainability (CEAMS) as funded by Innovate UK on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, and industrial support form Cellerate.co.uk.


REFERENCES


[1] S. Michaelis et. al., Roadmap Battery Production Equipment 2030 Update 2023, https://vdma.org/battery- production-equipment.


Figure 2: Cutting results using the Edgewave picosecond laser: anode (a–c) showing (a) laser-cut 5 mm diameter circles, (b) extracted discs after successful through-cuts, and (c) representative microscope image; cathode (d–f) showing (d) laser-cut 5 mm diameter circles, (e) extracted discs after successful through-cuts, and (f) representative microscope image.


Edge quality was quantified as a total edge defect measured normal to the cut edge from the kerf boundary to the outermost visible limit of any damage. Two boundaries at each location were identified: (i) the end of heat-affected zone (HAZ), and (ii) the furthest coating delamination; the reported total edge defect is the larger of the two. Measurements were made on extracted 5 mm discs using a Keyence VHX-5000 digital microscope, with three measurements per disc (0°, 120°, 240°) and three discs per condition.


RESULTS


NANOSECOND VS PICOSECOND CUTTING PERFORMANCE


Laser–material interaction in microscale electrode cutting is strongly governed by pulse duration. A low-power nanosecond DPSS laser (3 W, 355 nm) achieved cutting rates of ~0.3 m/min but generated significant thermal damage, with total edge defects of ~120 µm in both anodes and cathodes, reflecting the limits of nanosecond processing for thermally sensitive multilayer stacks (Figure 1a & b).


In contrast, low-power picosecond UV processing using a high multi- pass strategy enabled cleaner, layer-by-layer removal, increasing cutting rates to 1.5 m/min for anodes and 0.6 m/min for cathodes while reducing edge defects to ~80 µm and ~60 µm respectively, demonstrating the superior scalability and manufacturing suitability of ultrashort-pulse laser cutting (Figure 1c & d and Figure 2).


DISCUSSION


TOWARDS INDUSTRIAL DEPLOYMENT


Picosecond UV laser cutting offers a scalable route to high-quality electrode processing, delivering up to five-fold and two-fold higher cutting speeds for anode and cathode materials respectively, with approximately 50% reduction in thermal damage compared to nanosecond systems. The multi- pass strategy demonstrated here is directly compatible with industrial automation and can be transferred to higher-power platforms by preserving per-pulse energy and overlap conditions.


[2] D. Andre et al. Future high-energy density anode materials from an automotive application perspective. J. Mater. Chem. A, 2017,5, 17174-17198


[3] Ö. Aydin et al. Lithium-Ion Battery Manufacturing: Industrial View on Processing Challenges, Possible Solutions and Recent Advances. Batteries 2023, 9, 555.


[4] A.H.A. Lutey et al. Laser cutting of lithium iron phosphate battery electrodes: Characterization of process efficiency and quality. Opt. Laser Technol. 65(5):164–174 2015


[5] J. Kriegler et al. Process strategies for laser cutting of electrodes in lithium- ion battery production. J. Laser Appl. February 2021; 33 (1): 012006,


[6] N. Mirhosseini et al., Selective ultrashort pulse laser processing of battery electrodes. J. Laser Appl. 37,


042032 2025


*Nazanin Mirhosseini, Olivier Allegre, Richard Fields, Paul Mativenga (Unversity of Manchester).


nazanin.mirhosseini@manchester.ac.uk www.manchester.ac.uk


Nazanin Mirhosseini is a Research Fellow at the University of Manchester developing next- generation battery technologies and biomedical implants through precision laser engineering.


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