FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
LIA President to Hold Ultrafast Laser Tutorial at Lasers for Manufacturing Event
ORLANDO, FL, Sept. 19, 2012 — Prof. Reinhart Poprawe of Fraunhofer ILT, president of the Laser Institute of America, is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of laser manufacturing. Having earned Aviation Week’s 2012 Innovation Challenge award for producing a vital multiblade compressor component far faster and more cheaply with lasers than with traditional milling, he is at the forefront of exploring the fast-improving technology. Groundbreaking achievements in the context of ultrashort laser processing at ILT in Aachen are world records in fs-lasers, industrial systems in the kW-class have been developed and are available in the market now via spin offs like EdgeWave or Amphos. The outstanding characteristics in terms of precision immediately are convincing.
Attendees of LIA’s second-annual Lasers for Manufacturing Event (LME™) in Schaumburg, IL, will have exclusive access to his expertise in a special two-hour tutorial on the basics of ultrafast laser machining on Oct. 24.
“The development of ultrafast lasers on an industrial scale, with pulse durations of 100 femtoseconds to 10 picoseconds and powers up to the kilowatt class, has led to a new level of laser processing — with ultimate processing quality,” Prof. Poprawe explains.
Prof. Poprawe’s tutorial at LME will feature technical examples of the technology as well as a survey of fundamentals, the processes, systems, materials and applicable markets, he says. The target audience of engineers and scientists from machine suppliers and end users will learn the advantages and potential of the technology
“Manufacturers of ultrafast lasers and optical systems will learn about the requirements on system technology with respect to laser parameters and processing parameters,” Prof. Poprawe says. “Users of precision machining applications with accuracies in the range of 10 microns and below should attend to learn how this new technology could improve the performance of existing components by adding functions through laser-based surface functionalization or how ultrafast laser machining could lead to new high-precision products. Ablation rates of the order of 10 mm³/s have been demonstrated and shall be presented.”
Starting with the physical basics of ultrashort pulse interaction phenomena, the tutorial will survey a broad array of applications — tool and molding, automotive engine components, LED and OLED light-guiding systems, photovoltaics and energy storage, biomedical applications and general surface processing. In addition, various approaches for setting up ultrashort pulsed lasers will be addressed, as will system requirements for high-speed scanning and modulations systems.
Why is this session from LIA, the leading source of laser application research and safety since 1968, so vital today?
“Ultrashort pulsed lasers are heading to the edge of mass industrialization and will undergo similar growth rates like other lasers in the past,” Prof. Poprawe asserts. “Industrial needs have to be specified for numerous applications so researchers and system manufacturers can concentrate on short cycle time manufacturing solutions.”
To register for LME 2012 and the ultrafast laser machining tutorial, visit www.lia.org/conferences/laserevent.
About LIA
Laser Institute of America (LIA) is the professional society for laser applications and safety serving the industrial, educational, medical, research and government communities throughout the world since 1968. www.lia.org , 13501 Ingenuity Drive, Ste 128, Orlando, FL 32826, +1.407.380.1553.
###