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NASA’s research on femtosecond laser applications
A team of researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has shown that it’s possible to weld glass to copper, glass to glass, and drill hair-sized pinholes in different materials for use in spaceflight applications. This research group is expanding its research into a more exotic glass, such as sapphire and Zerodur, and metals, such as titanium, Invar, Kovar, and aluminum. These materials are often used in spaceflight instruments. The goal of studies is to weld larger pieces of materials and show that the femtosecond laser technology is effective at adhering windows onto laser housing and optics to a metal mount, among other applications.
Precision and advantages of femtosecond laser energy
The laser energy vaporizes it without heating the surrounding matter. Technicians can precisely target the laser and bond dissimilar materials that otherwise couldn’t be attached without epoxies.
The ability to remove small volumes of material without damaging the surrounding matter allows for machining microscopic features. Microscopic features include everything from drilling, hair-sized pinholes in metals, to etching microscopic channels or waveguides through which light travels in photonic integrated circuits and laser transmitters.