Laser-based Manufacturing
Laser-based Manufacturing
Lasers are versatile tools with widespread use in manufacturing. The group develops laser technologies for the precision manufacturing of a variety of materials. In particular, we use ultrashort pulsed lasers, which have a laser pulse duration shorter than a picosecond. The short pulse duration enables fabrication in three dimensions inside transparent materials, with feature sizes below a micrometre. Materials of interest include polymers, glasses and crystals.
Our research uses lasers to write with sub-micrometre precision
in three dimensions inside transparent materials.
In synergy with other research in the group, we look to use adaptive optical technology and advanced imaging concepts to improve either the speed or accuracy of the devices being manufactured, and enable device architectures that were previously impossible.
Research in this area underpins the group’s activities in Diamond Technology, Photonic Devices and Optical Fibre Sensing.
A laser written device in diamond with gold surface contacts.
We have internal collaborations with the Soft Matter Photonics research group at the University of Oxford.
Our external collaborators include the Future Metrology Hub at the University of Huddersfield, the PHI group at Herriot-Watt University, the Institute of Photonic Technologies at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, and the University of Exeter through PSFCheck. Commercial applications of our research are developed by spin-out company Opsydia.
A fluorescence image of laser-written 3D features used
in calibration for biological microscopes (PSFCheck).
Publications
Adaptive optics in laser processing
Patrick S. Salter & Martin J. Booth Light: Science & Applications 8, 110 (2019)
Four-dimensional light shaping: manipulating ultrafast spatiotemporal foci in space and time
Bangshan Sun, Patrick S Salter, Clemens Roider, Alexander Jesacher, Johannes Strauss, Johannes Heberle, Michael Schmidt & Martin J Booth, Light: Science & Applications 7, 17117 (2018)
Femtosecond fiber Bragg grating fabrication with adaptive optics aberration compensation
Patrick S. Salter, Matthew J. Woolley, Stephen M. Morris, Martin J. Booth, and Julian A. J. Fells, Optics Letters 43, 5993-5996 (2018)
Exploring the depth range for three-dimensional laser machining with aberration correction
P. S. Salter, M. Baum, I. Alexeev, M. Schmidt & M. J. Booth Optics Express 22, 15, 17644-17656 (2014)
Laser-based Manufacturing Group Members
Alvaro Fernandez Galiana
Postdoctoral Research Assistant
