Research Themes

  • Micro-Machining
    There are increasing manufacturing applications for laser processing at micron-scale resolution, including material removal, surface and bulk structuring, joining and surface texturing, smoothing and polishing Our research in this area covers the fundamentals of laser ablation and melt flow on the micro scale on a range of different materials using pulse lengths from the nanosecond to femtosecond regime.
  • Laser Development & Engineering
    Our ongoing research in this theme underpins the development of technologies and components crucial to the hardware supply chain for laser-based machine manufacture. Our research efforts concentrate on new laser device technologies,including solid state lasers pumped by diode laser arrays, with particular focus on the development of laser systems producing trains of ultrashort pulse pulses to enable significant expansion in novel laser processing applications.
  • Fusion-based Processes
    Our research in this area is focused on additive manufacture applications where there is an urgent need to solve the unreliability and low efficiency of the laser-based process, concentrating on laser powder and laser shaped wire interaction and fundamentals. Our research will feed into improved powder bed technology and a new laser-based additive manufacture process combining a very high power laser with wire strip.
  • Sensing & Process Control
    Real time control of laser-based processes is a key laser system goal, and techniques for sensing and monitoring of such laser-material interaction processes is a basic requirement to achieve reliable, flexible laser-based production processes. Our research addresses important aspects of the system design for specific laser machines will be addressed (e.g. for additive manufacture, UV laser processing, joining, peening) to achieve cost effective manufacture and high-level performance.
  • Associated Projects
    Projects that are not funded by the centre but cover research complementary to, or within the remit of, the centre.

Case Studies

The Centre aims to work with industry to understand and develop laser-based manufacturing techniques to improve the efficiency, efficacy and reliability of the process and end product.  These case studies detail how the Centre's work has improved understanding and process in commercial settings.