What’s the Difference Between Femtosecond and Picosecond Lasers?

This figure compares PS and FS lasers machining a 100-micron-wide channel in metal. Using a similar material removal method and cycle time, the FS laser produces cleaner edges and a smoother base.

Ultra-short pulse laser wavelength choices abound—and some work better for specific materials. Both PS and FS lasers offer wavelength choices of infrared (IR), green (GR), and ultraviolet (UV). Certain wavelengths work best for specific materials and/or one can also select the wavelength based on a particular feature size required. The smallest focus spot size achievable is directly related to the wavelength. Therefore, if all things are equal, a UV laser will focus to a spot size one-third the diameter of an IR laser. In this discussion, we refer to the wavelength by name (IR) rather a wavelength number (1030 nm), since different laser technologies operate at slightly different wavelengths. 

Each of the FS and PS lasers can be offered with multiple wavelengths available from a single laser. This option is typically used more for research and development rather than production systems, where single wavelength point of use machines are used for a specific material and process. Examples of where different wavelengths matter includes picosecond IR for glass cutting and picosecond GR for medical plastics like PEBAX.

The use and argument for different wavelengths matched to different materials is less obvious for FS lasers. Many people originally thought that the normal absorption dependency to wavelength would no longer apply with such a short pulse duration, and that “multi photon absorption” would dominate. This has not proven to be the case for certain plastics—polymer catheters are a good example. Not only is the processing quality and micromachining speed better using FS GR, but the processing window is also larger using green compared to IR. When machining small or blind features on plastics down to the micron level, the green wavelength can provide a more stable process.

Best possible removal rate for “good” quality machining of pebax using for IR, GR, and UV wavelengths. With an FS Laser Cross section of the feature in a lumen for the UV wavelength.

Table 1 provides a general overview of the best wavelength choice for particular materials.

Integration of ultra-short pulse lasers into manufacturing. The key feature of these lasers is their ability to process material to high dimensional accuracy. Therefore, the first system requirement is to support that level of precision. However, all the best hardware in the world will not provide a stable system if the environment in which the system is placed is not stable—specifically for temperature variance. In the world of microns of precision, temperature variance beyond a few degrees will cause issues, not only to fixtures and stages, but also to the laser’s pointing stability.

For example, each degree of temperature change (Celsius) would change a 12 in. (300-mm) length of aluminum by 0.0003 in. (7 microns). Therefore, the machines need to be housed in a well-controlled and air conditioned space.

An ultra-short pulse laser system is composed of several elements: the laser, an optical path to deliver the laser to the focusing optics, focus optics, motion, vision, debris control, and tooling. Each must be carefully considered as part of the optimal system solution.

AMADA MIYACHI AMERICA Sigma Laser Stent and Tube Cutting System may be configured with either a microsecond fiber (Yb:fiber) or femtosecond laser (as shown). The femtosecond laser offers burr-free cutting of metals and plastics using a cold ablation cutting process. The edge quality significantly reduces post-processing costs on metals such as nitinol, as well as providing cutting capability for polymers.

The laser is guided to the focusing optics using mirrors and a variable beam expander, which provides flexibility in changing the beam diameter entering the focus optics and therefore the size of the focus spot. There are two reasons this is needed. First, each laser’s output is a little different, so unless the process was qualified with the exact same laser to be used with the system, the variable beam expander can be used to tune the final focus spot size. Second, mostly with regard to flexible setup machines, the variable beam expander can change the focus spot size for different applications.  

Knowing and maintaining the position of focus on the part is very important, because in many cases the laser’s depth of focus or z height tolerance can be less than 0.01 in. (250 microns). If tooling cannot maintain this tolerance, non-contact laser distance sensors can be used to close the loop with a z stage to keep the part in focus.

Focusing Optics

• Fixed focus head: The fixed focus head focuses the beam only and relies on stages to move the part or itself.
• Scan head: Has small moving mirrors that direct the beam in a certain sized xy area and also focuses the laser.

The advantage of the scan head is that it can move the laser very quickly over small areas, which is typically required for many micromachining applications. All stages are always linear drives. For scan heads, the part remains stationary during processing, but can be indexed to another processing area as needed. The area the scan head can process is usually relatively small – around 40 × 40 mm. It is important to select scan heads with digital feedback. Otherwise, the positional errors (particularly from thermal drift) can really push up the processing positional tolerances.

Machine Vision and Debris

To process features exactly where they need to be, machine vision is usually an integral part of these systems. The vision in itself can require significant development with regard to camera resolution, lighting style, and wavelengths. In most cases, features can be positioned to with ± 5 microns of a target location, and even better when the fiducial location is close to the feature location. As noted earlier, there can be some wander of the laser, so this also has to be considered. A datum procedure is needed to know where the beam is in space.

Debris management is one aspect of these systems that can be easily overlooked. Where does all the removed material go, and does it matter if it lands back on the part? The ultra-short pulse lasers produce nano-particles that tend to be charged, and so tend to stick to surfaces. In some cases these particles can be cleaned using an ultrasonic bath, but in other cases the system may require use of extraction, possibly using multiple extraction methods.

As with any precision process, tooling is a key factor. For thin planar parts, vacuum chucks are commonly used. Non-planar parts usually need custom tooling. In each case, location features and fiducial features can be used for part location and feature-to-feature location for vision systems.

Summarizing System Needs

Before moving to system fulfillment, one must satisfy a number of milestones, including application feasibility, application development for production, producing a sufficient number of pre-production parts, and, most importantly, developing a clear technology solution route for a production machine. There is value in completing these steps with a single company, because the system concept and design are executed from the foundational knowledge associated with developing the application process.