HiLASE Centre has entered into a license agreement with Lasertechnologie, founded by Dr.rer.nat. Jörg Körner. The newly established spin-off provides highly innovative technologies in the field of diode pumped solid-state laser technology.
Early initiation of surface cracks and their subsequent growth limit the safe usage of metal components subjected to variable loadings. One of the most effective ways to postpone crack initiation, and consequently prolong the fatigue life of a critical component, is to apply a surface treatment to impart compressive residual stress as deep as possible into the material. Laser Shock Peening (LSP) is one of such methods to produce deep compressive residual stress. Despite its obvious benefits, currently, is LSP only used in the production environment, and for a very small number of components, mainly in the engine in the civil aircraft industry, and not at all for maintenance nor repair works.
The first step to overcome the limitations of LSP applications in maintenance and repair is to develop a robust, portable, compact, and versatile laser system. The task was to design and build a prototype of a laser system, with the energy of over 1J in nanosecond pulses. Dr. Antonio Lucianetti, Head of Advanced Laser Development Department at HiLASE Centre, invited Dr. Jörg Körner to tackle this task. Jörg spent a year with HiLASE Centre designing and developing a novel approach to combine diode-pumped, moderately low-gain media with the advantages of an unstable cavity. Moreover, Jörg constantly improved the prototype and created a small size compact laser system with the required parameters. The laser design follows the patent No. 307955 granted by the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic, together with the pending European patent.
Besides the mentioned servicing application of LSP, the combination of laser energy and pulse duration, with a shaped output beam intensity profile, makes this particular laser also an interesting tool for new hybrid additive manufacturing processes, which combines Selective Laser Melting and Laser Shock Peening.
After entering into a license agreement with HiLASE Centre, the company Dr.rer. nat Körner Lasertechnologie, recently founded by Jörg, will be offering this laser system to potential end-users.
We believe that our international cooperation will be successful and we wish the spin-off all the best!
