Material processing with ultra-short pulse lasers working in 2μm wavelength range

New wavelengths of laser radiation are of interest for material processing. Results of application of the all-fiber ultrashort pulsed laser emitting in 2 µm range, manufactured by Novae, are presented. Average output power was 4.35 W in a single-spatial-mode beam centered at the 1950 nm wavelength. Pulses duration was 40 ps, and laser operated at 4.2 MHz pulse repetition rate. This performance corresponded to 25 kW of pulse peak power and almost 1 µJ in pulse energy. Material processing was performed using three different focusing lenses (100, 30 and 18 mm) and mechanical stages for the workpiece translation. 2 µm laser radiation is strongly absorbed by some polymers. Swelling of PMMA surface was observed for scanning speed above 5 mm/s using the average power of 3.45 W focused with the 30 mm lens. When scanning speed was reduced below 4 mm/s, ablation of PMMA took place. The swelling of PMMA is a consequence of its melting due to absorbed laser power. Therefore, experiments on butt welding of PMMA and overlapping welding of PMMA with other polymers were performed. Stable joint was achieved for the butt welding of two PMMA blocks with thickness of 5 mm. The laser was used to cut a Kapton film on a paper carrier with the same set-up as previous. The cut width depended on the cutting speed and focusing optics. A perfect cut with a width of 11 µm was achieved at the translation speed of 60 mm/s.