Pulsed laser welding utilizes a short laser pulse to accelerate a flyer toward a work piece through the vaporization of an ablative layer. A diagram below shows the setup. It is a solid-state, collision based welding technology that achieves velocities up to tens of kilometers per second. Also, the weld interface is oxide free due to the angle at which the weld is formed. Because of this, the weld will be reproducable and incredibly energy efficient.
The laser pulses and heats the ablative layer which expands and pushes the flyer towards the target material. A PDV probe is placed behind the target to track the acceleration of the target based on the flyer. This is very useful within medical device creation, small-scale welding, and microelectronics due to the high precision of the laser.
(a) laser system and experimental chamber
(b) laser beam profile from camera
(c) laser beam profile analysis in horizontal and vertical direction
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