| The recent and ongoing development of high average power industrial ultrafast (UF) lasers opens up a whole new range of potential manufacturing applications, as it becomes economically viable to exploit the finely detailed surface features that can be generated on a wide range of materials. UF lasers have particular advantages with brittle materials such as glass, avoiding the thermally-induced cracking problems observed with longer pulsed lasers. In this project we will concentrate on the development of UF laser processes to generate controlled scattering features on glass surfaces, at a high speed and hence low cost (~£2/m2). Our project is driven in particular by the demands of the rapidly expanding organic light-emitting diode (OLED) industry, where complex laminate solutions are currently used together with glass and/or metal encapsulation. Directly patterning the glass using an UF laser provides the prospect of a simpler solution, but research is required to develop a suitable high-speed process to meet the dual requirements of cost and optical performance. We plan to combine our process with recently developed thin flex glass (TFG), which provides the opportunity to create flexible packages without the hermeticity issues associated with polymer packaging. TFG has perfect H2O and O2 barrier properties; no outgassing; high temperature capability; and excellent optical quality. |
Contact Details:
For more information please contact Professor Duncan Hand, D.P.Hand@hw.ac.uk
© EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser-Based Production Processes