Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

Industrial lasers are used for cutting, welding, drilling, as well as such things as measuring and leveling.However, novel, advanced laser technologies such as short pulse (picosecond and femtosecond) lasers have notyet found their full niche in manufacturing industries. This is partly because these advanced laser technologieshave only recently demonstrated the high standards of reliability that are needed for industrial applications.This project aims to demonstrate the feasibility of using advanced laser systems in certain aerospacemanufacturing processes. Several candidate applications will be investigated and prototyped. The project willinvestigate pulse laser micro-drilling and micro-machining for the production of parts for optical spectroscopesand quadrant detectors, suitable for aerospace applications. The advanced lasers and processing techniques willbe evaluated at multiple optical wavelengths and with performance and reliability as primary factors. Inaddition to the advanced laser component, the work will require precision mechanical scanning capability.Therefore, in addition to creating proof-of-principle demonstrations of advanced laser processing, the projectwill enable future investigation of other manufacturing processes, including additive manufacturing foraerospace.