Femtosecond lasers: the ultimate tool for high-precision 3D manufacturing

Abstract

Abstract The ever-growing trend of device multifunctionality and miniaturization puts enormous burden on existing manufacturing technologies. The requirements for precision, throughput, and cost become increasingly harder to achieve with minimal room for compromises. Femtosecond lasers, which saw immense development throughout the last few decades, have been proven time and time again to be a superb tool capable of standing up to the challenges posed by modern science and the industry for ultrahigh-precision material processing. Thus, this paper is dedicated to provide an outlook on how femtosecond pulses are revolutionizing modern manufacturing. We will show how they are exploited for various kinds of material processing, including subtractive (ablation, cutting, and etching), additive (lithography and laser-induced forward transfer), or hybrid subtractive-additive cases. The advantages of using femtosecond lasers in such applications, with main focus on how they enable the most precise kinds of material processing, will be highlighted. Future prospects concerning emerging industrial applications and the future of the technology itself will be discussed.