Pulsed Laser Machining Implemented with Piezoelectric Actuator

This article introduces two scanner devices, which were used to study the possibilities of applying small vibratory motion in pulse laser machining. Small and fast oscillating motion is used in this research to decrease the pulse overlap of the pulsed fiber laser. When pulse overlap comes smaller the machining properties of the beam improve, because the previously vaporized metal does not cause power loss in the machining. Piezoelectric actuators have not been used much in certain scanner solutions, but they meet the speed and accuracy demands of many applications. This is mainly because the achievable work areas are small. Piezoelectric tip/tilt-mirror actuators that are commercially available have small scan angles when compared to galvanometer-based scanners. This research objective is to achieve better machining quality and to improve productivity.