SPONSORED CONTENT: BEAM SHAPING


THE NEXT STEP IN LASER MATERIALS PROCESSING


longer periods of time. ‘We have a lot of applications


Matthew Dale learns how Bosch Research plans to use one of the most recent developments in laser technology


In developing its extensive range of products, spanning from home appliances to automotive parts, Bosch researches and wields the latest production technologies. In the field of laser materials


processing, which has become one of the many tools in Bosch’s production arsenal over the years, the firm works with the absolute cutting-edge. Last year, for example, it announced its partnership with the European photonics consortium, LAMpAS, to develop a laser system capable of structuring metal surfaces to give them antibacterial, water-repellent and grease-repellent properties. The work could lead to home appliances that remain clean for


that rely on laser material processing, and look to adopt the latest technologies as they emerge,’ confirmed Dr Reiner Ramsayer, Bosch Researcher’s chief expert in joining technology and the manager of its laser materials processing group. ‘Over the years, we’ve seen laser sources continually increase in terms of both beam quality and power. We’ve also seen innovative optics developed and new wavelengths emerge – for example, in the visible (blue and green) part of the spectrum for copper processing. We continually develop new processes with these evolving technologies.’ And so with the firm at


the forefront of technology development, who better to ask the simple question: ‘What’s next in laser materials processing?’


Beam shaping for new opportunities The answer, according to Ramsayer, is being able to change the profile and parameters of laser beams during processing, without requiring a change in optics. ‘From my point of view, beam


The coherent beam combining technology of Civan’s Dynamic Beam Laser can be used to produce a wide range of beam profiles


shaping is a parameter field ripe for exploring to further optimise processes, as today, 99 per cent of all laser processes work with a single round beam with either a Gaussian or top hat profile,’ he said. ‘While in the last three to four years we have witnessed the emergence of so-called “ring-in- ring” technology for lasers with adjustable beam quality, its beam shaping functionality is actually quite limited. Such systems do not enable you to achieve whatever beam shapes you want, and the shapes they do offer can be quite static. While you can change the sub-power in the ring and in the core, it’s unfortunately not very flexible or dynamic.’ Which is why the firm has begun working with Civan Laser’s dynamic beam lasers (DBLs) wielding coherent-beam- combining technology. Here, numerous beams of differing phase are overlapped to produce a wide range of beam shapes at up to megahertz frequencies, and at high power. This enables full control of the keyhole during welding, opening new possibilities in increasing process quality, speed and creating new applications. The concept of coherent


Copper-aluminium welds achieved using different beam profiles from Civan’s Dynamic Beam Laser


8 LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE SUMMER 2022


beam combining is not new, however, it is only in recent years that it has been adapted


for high-power (kilowatt-level) material processing lasers. ‘Over the past decade a lot of experts in laser technology identified it as a good approach, but many didn’t think it would work with lasers tens of kilowatts in power, or that it would be too expensive,’ said Ramsayer. ‘Civan has since overcome these issues. They introduced the concept to us four to five years ago and we recognised it to have great potential as the next step forward in laser materials processing. It offered a completely new field of adjustable parameters.’


Getting to grips with new technology Civan has since adapted the technology to materials processing and released systems that it and Bosch Research can experiment with together at research institutes. ‘Now we are at the stage of conducting lots of research to increase our understanding of the process fundamentals – determining the relationship between different beam shapes and other parameters, such as laser power, weld depth and material type,’ said Ramsayer. ‘This will enable us to identify which shapes can be used to, for example, influence welding


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