News
Innovation for Expanding Requirements
February 05, 2020 | From Industrial Laser Solutions:
Market focused Innovations of Ultrashort-Pulse Lasers
Ultrashort pulse laser-based micromachining, once an academic curiosity in the hands of few research labs, has become a proliferous industrial segment over the last 20 years. The once precipitous hesitation of industry to adopt ultrafast lasers into daily routines has waned as more and more end users realize the positive impacts of this material processing method. This is especially true as components become smaller, and assume added physical, electrical, chemical, biological and optical functionality to meet requirements in medical, consumer electronics, industrial instrumentation and automotive markets. Ultrashort pulse micromachining will gain even more widespread implementation as 5G enables an IoT world that requires microscopic IoT gadgets whose design trends demand niche-integrated, multifunctional solutions in the shape of different sensors that include connectivity. Additionally, innovation in automation capability will offer streamlined, lower-cost micromachining workstations that can enhance operational workflow and thereby optimize end user speed to market considerations.
Link to the article: Innovation for Expanding Requirements of Ultrashort-Pulse Lasers
Femtosecond laser micromilling
November 13, 2018 | From Industrial Laser Solutions:
Engineers describe examples of femtosecond laser micromilling applications
Femtosecond laser micromilling, or ablative laser processing, removes material in virtually any shape or pattern. Cut widths down to a few microns are achievable and submicron kerfs are possible for very thin materials. Femtosecond laser machining enables repeated manufacture of precision components with complex patterns. 3D blind features can be created with depth resolutions within a few percent of the feature depth, and resolutions as high as a few tens of nanometers can be performed on production parts.
Link to the article: Femtosecond Laser Micromilling Application Examples: Serial Sectioning and Wear-Defect Simulation
Celebrating Physics Nobel Prize
October 02, 2018 | From Laser Focus World:
Nobel Prize 2018 awarded ‘for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics’
The second half of the prize will be equally shared by Gérard Mourou and Strickland “for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.” This method is well known as chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) and it has revolutionized the generation of energetic ultrashort laser pulses. Laser Focus World Senior Editor John Wallace gave a good overview on the technology and its devices in 2015.
Amplified femtosecond lasers for micromachining became an option in the early 1990s, also inspired by Mourou: “Dr. Gérard Mourou, then a professor at the University of Michigan and a founder of the MXR portion of what became Clark-MXR in 1992, was the first to recognize that femtosecond pulses of light ablated material in a more deterministic manner and with less heat-affected zone (HAZ) than longer laser pulses,” said Bill Clark from Clark-MXR in an interview.
Clark-MXR is Laser Institute of America’s Featured Member
August 10, 2016 – An industry leader in Ultrashort Pulse laser based micromachining and the production of ultrafast lasers and laser-based solutions for scientific research and industrial applications, Clark-MXR, Inc. is known for offering unparalleled contract manufacturing services and easy-to-use laser products at a low cost of ownership.
Megahertz, High-Order Harmonics for Photoelectron Spectroscopy Generated with Clark-MXR’s Model IMPULSE
March 2015 | Dexter, MI, USA — Recent advancements in high-order harmonic generation (HHG) of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) at MHz repetition rates provide a wide photon energy range, 13-45eV (up to ~39th harmonic), with ultrafast time resolution. This new publication and related video abstract from Prof. Wolf Widdra group at Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany provides a good comparison of traditional techniques with ToF-ARPES using MHz, high-order harmonics. This paper explains ideal conditions for ARPES that can be achieved with Model IMPULSE based High-Order harmonic generation.
Fiber-laser based HHG setup for photoemission experiments with one of the coauthors, Dr. M. Huth and on the right, Model IMPULSE from Clark-MXR.
The initial demonstration of megahertz high-order harmonic generation with Model IMPULSE is described in this 2014 publication that shows electron pair emission from metal surfaces, that can essentially replace a synchrotron radiation source paving path to build a tabletop synchrotron with high-order harmonic generated with Model IMPULSE laser from Clark-MXR.
The Model IMPULSE from Clark-MXR is a one-box, all diode-pumped Yb-doped fiber oscillator/amplifier with full computer control of major laser parameters. The standard model is >20W average power with user adjustable repletion rate from 200kHz to 25MHz. It can be synchronized to an external clock (PhaseShifter version) with available customized high power/high energy versions and can pump two NOPAs simultaneously. Please contact Clark-MXR for further details.
About Clark-MXR: Clark-MXR (www.cmxr.com) has been instrumental in the development of innovative ultrashort pulse laser-based solutions for scientific, industrial, and medical applications. Its products and services include ultrashort pulse laser sources, integrated ultrafast micromachining workstations and spectroscopy instrumentation. It also performs contract manufacturing for third parties using ultrashort pulses of light. The company is an active participant in the SBIR program and has received over 17 awards, often in partnership with academic and industrial institutions.
Clark-MXR Inc. Receives NIH SBIR funding for the Direct-write Production of Cochlear Implant Electrode Arrays
Dexter, MI, September 14, 2011: — Clark-MXR, Inc. has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II contract from the National Institute of Health to further develop the tools, facilities and protocols needed to produce multi-electrode arrays using known biocompatible materials. Building on its successful Phase I program, the company will use its unique, direct-write micromachining technology to produce a robust, high quality, reliable cochlear implant electrode array that is functionally similar to those in clinical use today. Clark-MXR anticipates that this new technology will eliminate failures caused by embrittlement as well as enable higher functionality at lower cost.
According to Dr. William Clark, President and CEO of Clark-MXR: “We anticipate that this program will improve health for the deaf community. You need only search for‘ cochlear implant baby’ on Youtube.com to understand why we feel this endeavor is an important application of our manufacturing technology – especially for children in their formative years.”
In furtherance of NIH’s mission to reduce the burdens of illness and disability, this program will result in a substantial improvement in quality, performance and size of cochlear implants, and in so doing it will lay the foundation for production of a broad spectrum of neural implants serving a wide range of medical needs.
About Clark-MXR: Clark-MXR (www.cmxr.com) provides innovative ultrashort pulse laser-based solutions for scientific, industrial, and medical applications. Its products and services include ultrashort pulse laser sources, contract manufacturing, and complete, integrated ultrafast micromachining tools and spectroscopy instrumentation.
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