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GFH has developed the pulse control method Pulse-on-Demand, which can increase productivity in laser micro machining by up to 50% through constant pulse spacing at variable path speeds. Ultrashort pulse lasers are increasingly taking on more tasks, especially in micromachining. With complex contours featuring sharp angles and curves, the fixed time intervals between laser pulses can become problematic: if the machining process needs to slow down due to the geometry, more pulses are concentrated in a small area, causing overlap that can affect the material. Ultrashort pulse lasers are taking on an increasing number of tasks, especially in micro machining.
With complex contours featuring sharp angles and curves, the fixed time intervals between laser pulses can become problematic: if the machining process needs to slow down due to the geometry, more pulses are concentrated in a small area, causing overlap that can affect the material.
System for flexible pulse adjustment
Entire production processes often have to be operated at the lowest required speed to maintain consistent laser pulse spacing throughout. GFH GmbH, a specialist in laser micromachining systems, has now developed a system for flexible pulse adjustment. According to GFH, the Pulse-on-Demand method uses real-time CNC path speed data to achieve equidistant pulse spacing even during acceleration phases. Since the CNC machine's controller calculates the path in advance, it also determines the permissible speeds at every point. Based on this data, the system's core calculates in real-time the interval lengths needed to maintain constant spacing between pulses and adjusts the laser accordingly. As not all laser sources are suitable for this process, special short-pulse lasers are used. For example, when processing an area of 500 × 500 µm² with hatch lines spaced 20 µm apart at a speed of 1000 mm/s, the processing time using the Pulse-on-Demand method is 31 seconds. To achieve identical quality results with conventional methods, acceleration paths without active laser operation would need to be incorporated.
High repeatability with the new laser process
With this strategy, the processing time would more than double to 1 minute and 6 seconds. At the same time, the repeatability of the new method is so high that the full performance capacity of the system kinematics—up to 2000 mm/s at an acceleration of up to 20 m/s²—can be utilized without compromising contour precision, further saving time.