Ultra-fast lasers generate very short pulses of light, typically less than a nanosecond in duration. These laser systems can deliver immense peak power with remarkable precision, enabling intricate modifications at the microscopic and even molecular level.
Unlike traditional lasers, they are able to interact with materials through non-thermal mechanisms, allowing for controlled alterations without surrounding damage. From semiconductor manufacturing to medical device fabrication and aerospace engineering, ultra-fast lasers can process a wide range of materials, such as metals, ceramics, polymers, and biological tissues with high levels of accuracy. Their ability to cut, drill, ablate, and structure materials at fine scales makes them ideally suited to advanced engineering and research.
The market for these lasers is growing, driven by increased demands in materials processing and semiconductor industries. They have also become commonplace in the automotive, consumer electronics, communications technology, and healthcare sectors, where complex components require microscopic manufacturing capabilities. Semiconductor manufacturers use ultra-fast lasers for photomask repairs and intricate slicing and dicing operations.
In a recent webcast, hosted by Electro Optics, a panel of industry experts representing MKS Spectra-Physics, Midel Photonics, and Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) came together to discuss the evolving landscape of ultra-fast laser technology, the trends, challenges and opportunities, and its implications for micromachining across global industries. Watch the webcast here.
Laser development: where next?
The discussion began with a look back at the journey of laser development. Markus Ruetering, Vice President Sales EMEIA, MKS Spectra-Physics, explained how the technology progressed from millisecond to nanosecond lasers, and the increasing focus on picosecond and femtosecond technologies. He said: "People want lasers to be cheaper. People want lasers to be more powerful. People want lasers to have various wavelengths, and they also want the pulse lengths to be sometimes adaptable or changeable. Prices should get lower. We are also seeing a lot of interest in shorter wavelengths, such as deep ultraviolet (DUV) and ultraviolet (UV). This is also where Spectra-Physics puts a lot of energy into it to increase the energy- per-pulse and the power for certain wavelengths, more and more is going to UV.”
Christian Vedder, Head of the Surface Technology Department, Fraunhofer ILT, agreed, saying: “In mechanical engineering, we always focus on faster, cheaper, better. And I think the upcoming technology is very good for high-power, ultra short pulse lasers, and we need to get productivity up. So we know that ultra short pulse lasers are very precise and can be controlled very precisely. But the nature of ultra short pulse laser ablation is that you only remove a little part – that's where the precision comes from. It’s very precise, but slow, and we need to get faster. And, by this, we need higher power, ultra short pulse lasers and fast deflection beam systems, multi beam systems, etc, to make use of this power in the future.”
David Dung, co-founder and Managing Director, Midel Photonics, added: “I completely agree. What we see as a still fairly young company that is revolutionising the market of laser beam shaping is that the trend is going to UV and DUV. So, there, the laser is getting stronger and stronger. This is where we get lots of requests to bring this laser into shape for certain applications, for instance, increasing productivity.”
Pulse compression and shaping will also play a major role in defining which area of laser development really scales.
Ultra-fast lasers: the next dominant technology?
The panelists emphasised that the laser technology landscape is not about finding a single dominant solution, but rather developing a diverse ecosystem of technologies tailored to specific applications.
In response to the question whether ultra-fast will become the dominating technology in lasers, Ruetering said: “The short answer: no. The long answer might be ‘horses for courses’… I mean, the discussion about which laser for which application with which technology. There are always new technologies coming up.”
Dung supported this view: “I completely agree there are different segments where high-power, multi keyword lasers play a role, and where ultra short pulse lasers play a role. My feeling is that there are more new segments that can be addressed in the future, with which are short pulse lasers when it comes to really mass prints and surface structuring, or even some fields that we're not seeing today with lasers.”
Improvements in semiconductor and fibre laser technologies are contributing to the availability of compact, lower-cost systems without sacrificing performance. This makes ultra-fast laser technology more accessible to a broader range of applications. There are startups driving this growth, alongside a number of more established players, and a slate of acquisitions and mergers in the sector will also drive pace and innovation. The market is projected to continue growing rapidly in the coming years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) ranging from 10% to 15%, depending on the region and application sector. The market value is expected to exceed several billion dollars by the late 2020s. North America and Europe are leading the market, but Asia-Pacific, especially China, is increasingly becoming a major player as industrial and scientific demand for ultra-fast lasers grows.
Focus areas in micromachining
Focusing on micromachining, Ruetering emphasised the importance of the continuous miniaturisation of manufacturing processes and the increasing precision of laser technologies. He said: “It's getting smaller and smaller, and more micro. We need to have smaller curves, smaller holes in drilling, functionalising, surface cutting, it's thinning so ablation – all of these are typical things. The first major driving application of micromachining I learned about was drilling of Diesel injection nozzles many years ago. But now it's so wide, it's hard to really say what's driving the focus in terms of micromachining, and let's not forget about applications that are not necessarily micromachining, but which use ultra short, ultra fast places as well.”
Dung agreed on the importance of miniaturisation, adding: “Now, when it comes to the quality and also the productivity, it's getting more and more key to have the right distribution of laser intensity distribution at the work piece."
The development of ultra-fast lasers is tightly connected to quantum technology research, especially in areas such as quantum computing, sensing, and cryptography. Laser pulses are being used to manipulate and control quantum states, and innovations in ultra-fast lasers are helping to unlock more stable and scalable quantum systems.
Despite the ongoing reduction in prices due to technological advances, ultra-fast lasers are still relatively expensive compared to traditional laser systems, which can limit their widespread adoption in lower-budget applications.
The design, operation, and maintenance of ultra-fast laser systems remains technically demanding and, for certain applications, such as industrial materials processing or field diagnostics, there’s a need for ultra-fast laser systems to operate reliably in harsh environments, which presents a technical challenge.
To hear how our panel discuss this and other issues, you can watch the webcast on-demand here.
