Lightmotif Technology

Machining materials with ultrafast laser pulses means to fire focused light packages that last only for about a millionth of a millionth of a second. Energy that is packed in such a short time has two main advantages:

  1. During the interaction of the light pulse with the material, the material is energized, not heated. Heat processes are much slower and just start when the pulse is itself is gone. The irradiated area will behave differently depending on the material. It can either dissociate before the onset of melt, or it melts and evaporates in a very rapid way leading to very little time for heat diffusion into surrounding material.

    This is the reason for ultrafast machining leaving as little heat influences as possible.

  2. Because of the enormously high intensity, the photon density in the pulse is also very high. This makes non linear absorption possible. Materials that are normally transparent to light with a certain wavelength, now become absorbing because multiple photons interact with one electron at the same time and convert enough energy to free it from the shell. A free electron is generated that acts as an additional absorber of energy.

    Because of this phenomenon transparent materials can be machined. Tuning the energy density of the laser beam by proper focus control, the threshold for absorption can be placed inside a transparent material. The next striking effect is the reaction of glass to such pulses: instead of damage, the refractive index can be changed inside of the material. This way, light guiding tracks can be written by ultrafast pulses. These so called waveguides, conventionally produced in clean rooms on planar substrates, now can be applied with more freedom and in 3d.

What does Lightmotif do with ultrafast pulses?

We machine a wide variety of materials on the micro- and nanoscale. Our core technology is the fabrication of surface nano- and microstructures for the generation of functional properties of surfaces. But Lightmotif also applies ultrafast pulses instead of conventional processes like drilling, micromilling, EDM and others. The big advantage of this new method is the flexibility and material independent nature of the process. Even the hardest materials can be machined precisely.

To summarize our technologies:

Lightmotif offers its service to a very broad range of customers. One of the few things they have in common is the need for the best in terms of flexibility, accuracy or simply because their innovative application can not be machined by a different technology.

Our key markets are: