Ultrafast laser improves glass machining

Glass machining is an important part in the production of flat panel display (FPD), automobile windows, etc., thanks to its outstanding features of good resistance to impact and controllable cost. Although glass has so many advantages, high quality glass cutting becomes quite challenging due to the fact that it is brittle. But with the demand of glass cutting is increasing, especially the one with high precision, high speed and high flexibility, many glass manufacturers are seeking new machining ways. 

Traditional glass cutting uses CNC grinding machine as the processing method. However, using CNC grinding machine to cut glass often leads to high failure rate, more material waste and decreased cutting speed and quality when it comes to irregular shape glass cutting. Besides, micro crack and crumble will occur when the CNC grinding machine cuts through the glass. More importantly, post procedures like polishing are often required to clean up the glass. And that is not only time consuming but also human labor consuming. 

Comparing with traditional glass cutting method mentioned before, the mechanism of laser glass cutting is outlined. Laser technology, especially ultrafast laser, has now brought so many benefits to the customers. It is easy to use, non-contact with no pollution and at the same time can guarantee smooth cut edge. Ultrafast laser is gradually playing an important role in high precision cutting in glass. 

As we know, ultrafast laser refers to pulse laser with pulse width of equal or less than picosecond laser level. That makes it have very high peak power. For transparent materials like glass, when the super high peak power laser is focused inside the materials, the non-linear-polarization inside the materials changes the light transmission feature, making the light beam to self focus. Since the peak power of ultrafast laser is so high, the pulse keeps focusing inside the glass and transmitting to the inside of the material without diverging until the laser power is not enough to support the ongoing self focusing movement. And then where the ultrafast laser transmits will leave silk-like traces with diameter of several micrometer. By connecting these silk-like traces and imposing stress, the glass can be cut perfectly without burr. In addition, ultrafast laser can perform curve cutting quite perfectly, which can meet the increasing demand of curved screens of the smart phones these days. 

The superior cutting quality of ultrafast laser relies on proper cooling. Ultrafast laser is quite sensitive to heat and needs some device to keep it cool at a very stable temperature range. And that’s why a laser chiller is often seen beside the ultrafast laser machine. 

S&A RMUP series ultrafast laser chillers can provide precise temperature control up to ±0.1°C and feature rack mount design which allows them to fit in the rack. They are applicable to cool up to 15W ultrafast laser. The proper arrangement of the pipeline inside the chiller can greatly avoid bubble which could otherwise impose great impact to the ultrafast laser. With compliance to CE, RoHS and REACH, this laser chiller could be your reliable partner for ultrafast laser cooling. 

For detailed information of the RMUP series ultrafast laser chillers, click https://www.teyuchiller.com/ultrafast-laser-uv-laser-chiller_c3