METAMORPHA

The project will develop an ultrashort pulse micromachining system based on a combination of two spatial light modulators (SLMs) with an integrated galvo scanner to enable sophisticated digital beam shaping and steering from a single fully digital module. This will allow a single system to perform a variety of manufacturing processes (e.g. polishing, milling, drilling and cutting) which currently require different laser machines, mechanical and/or (electro-) chemical processes. A single METAMORPHA laser machine could replace a process chain of several steps that are currently achieved using environmentally damaging non-laser processes. A key aspect of the project is the development of made-to-measure laser processes. Each workpiece is scanned using a high resolution 3D surface topography quality sensor before processing. Using a machine learning based algorithm, a precision individualised laser micromachining process will be calculated so that every process is tailored to each workpiece to account for tiny variations in geometry or surface topography. During processing, real-time sensors monitor the processing zone to provide real-time feedback for system control. This allows the fine tuning of the machining procedure to account for the unpredictable variations between process runs. This project ist funded by the European Union.