Efficient coupling of dual beam combined laser into micro water jet for deep processing

Abstract In order to improve the power and energy of water-jet-guided laser, this paper introduces a double beam water-jet-guided laser (DWJL) technology. Based spatially polarized light combination and temporal phase modulation, two lasers are effectively coupled into a water jet with diameter of 1...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ji Wang, Chunguang Chen, Guolong Wang, Kaijie Cheng, Wenwu Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-01-01
Series:Scientific Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-85552-8
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Summary:Abstract In order to improve the power and energy of water-jet-guided laser, this paper introduces a double beam water-jet-guided laser (DWJL) technology. Based spatially polarized light combination and temporal phase modulation, two lasers are effectively coupled into a water jet with diameter of 100 μm. The maximum output peak power reaches 100 kW and the maximum pulse energy is 4.63 mJ with an operation frequency range from 1 to 20 kHz. The coupling efficiency is as high as 90.4%. Its efficient energy utilization offers new solutions for precision cutting and processing of thick materials. Ultimately, the machining capability of high-power/high-energy DWJL was demonstrated by cutting through 7075 aluminum alloys of varying thicknesses. The cutting depth reaches 10.61 mm, corresponding to a depth-to-width ratio of the cutting gap exceeds 90:1, and the taper is only approximately 0.23°. There is no heat-affected ablation zone on the processed surface. For deep micro holes processing, a minimum radius is 248.54 μm with a depth-to-diameter ratio of 21:1. As the ongoing development of DWJL technology, this innovation is anticipated to find broader applications in aerospace, automotive manufacturing, and high-end equipment manufacturing in the future.
ISSN:2045-2322