Femtosecond laser structuring is a convenient technology to generate well-defined surfaces on virtually any solid material ranging from metals to glasses and polymers. The extremely short timescale of the laser pulse guarantees the bulk material to be unaffected from the surface treatment. Examples for femtosecond laser processed surfaces are deep black metals, increased emissivity, superhydrophilic metals or heterogeneous catalysts and electrodes with strongly enlarged specific surface areas.
Research Topics
Femtosecond laser material processing is the core competence of this group. The technique is used routinely to create custom-oriented surface properties. Beyond that, new applications for laser processed surfaces are exploited and the technology itself is developed further.
One major research topic is the increase in the processing speed for femtosecond laser micromachining. Lasers with higher repetition rates and parallel writing lines are used to achieve efficient material surface processing. Currently, work pieces with surface areas reaching 1 square meter can be processed. Further aspects are laser microstructuring in reactive gas atmospheres.
Projects
Current research within the group Surface Processing is rendered possible by industry and public funding bodies.