Methods capable of forming holes in, etching the surface of, or otherwise ablating substrates, and substrates formed thereby. A first method includes directing a first laser beam pulse towards a substrate to form a hole in a surface thereof and to form a plasma plume at least partially within the hole wherein the plasma plume has insufficient thermal energy and expansion velocity to etch sidewall of the hole, and directing a second laser beam pulse into the plasma plume to increase the temperature and expansion velocity of the plasma plume such that the sidewall is etched causing an increase in the cross-sectional dimension of the hole. A second method includes applying a liquid to a surface of a substrate, and directing a laser beam pulse into the liquid to create plasma on the surface of the substrate that etches portions of the surface of the substrate.

A method of laser welding together two or more overlapping metal workpieces (12, 14 or 12, 504, 14) that define a welding region (16) in which at least a portion of an accessible top surface (20, 120, 220, 520) of a workpiece stack-up (10, 110, 210, 510) is curved or angled includes advancing a laser beam (24) along a beam travel pattern (74) that at least partially lies on the portion of the top surface that is curved or angled while maintaining a constant focal distance (64) of the laser beam during such advancing travel. The beam travel pattern may be projected onto a curved portion (20, 220) of the top surface, an angled portion (120) of the top surface, or two or more portions (20, 20, 120, 120, 220, 220, 220) of the top surface that lack planarity.

A clad material includes a first layer made of stainless steel and a second layer made of Cu or a Cu alloy and roll-bonded to the first layer. In the clad material, a grain size of the second layer measured by a comparison method of JIS H 0501 is 0.150 mm or less.

A clad material includes a first layer made of stainless steel and a second layer made of Cu or a Cu alloy and roll-bonded to the first layer. In the clad material, a grain size of the second layer measured by a comparison method of JIS H 0501 is 0.150 mm or less.

A multilayer steel includes a core formed of transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) steel. A decarburized layer is exterior to the core on at least one side thereof. The decarburized layer has reduced carbon content relative to the core. A zinc-based layer is exterior to the decarburized layer. The decarburized layer may have a composition of at least 80 percent ferrite, such that LME is reduced or mitigated. In some configurations, the decarburized layer is between 10-50 microns thick. A method of creating a coated advanced high-strength steel component is also provided. An apparatus for forming a coated advanced high-strength steel is also provided. The core of the multilayer steel may have a carbon weight-percent of less than or equal to 0.4. The decarburized layer of the multilayer steel may have a carbon weight-percent of less than or equal to 50 percent of the carbon weight-percent of the core.

A method of laser welding a workpiece stack-up that includes at least two overlapping metal workpieces is disclosed. The method includes advancing a beam spot of a laser beam relative to a top surface of the workpiece stack-up and along a beam travel pattern to form a laser weld joint, which is comprised of resolodified composite metal workpiece material, that fusion welds the metal workpieces together. And, while the beam spot is being advanced along the beam travel pattern, between a first point and a second point, which may or may not encompass the entire beam travel pattern, at least one of the following laser beam parameters is repeatedly varied: (1) the power level of the laser beam; (2) the travel speed of the laser beam; or (3) the focal position of the laser beam relative to the top surface of the workpiece stack-up.

A method for forming a multilayer structure from a precursor panel having an edge, the method including steps of connecting an attachment member to the precursor panel such that an edge of the attachment member is in alignment with the edge of the precursor panel and applying heat and gas pressure to expand the precursor panel.

The present disclosure relates to a process for cutting and separating arbitrary shapes of thin substrates of transparent materials, particularly tailored composite fusion drawn glass sheets, and the disclosure also relates to a glass article prepared by the method. The developed laser method can be tailored for manual separation of the parts from the panel or full laser separation by thermally stressing the desired profile. The self-separation method involves the utilization of an ultra-short pulse laser that can be followed by a CO.sub.2 laser (coupled with high pressure air flow) for fully automated separation.

According to aspects of the disclosed subject matter, a method of placing a solid state light source on a heat sink can include coating a surface of the heat sink with an anodized coating or an e-coating, for example. A portion of the coated surface can be treated via laser ablation for placing the solid state light source. Additionally, the laser ablation parameters can be adjusted to provide a predetermined roughness to the treated portion of the coated surface.

According to aspects of the disclosed subject matter, a method of placing a solid state light source on a heat sink can include coating a surface of the heat sink with an anodized coating or an e-coating, for example. A portion of the coated surface can be treated via laser ablation for placing the solid state light source. Additionally, the laser ablation parameters can be adjusted to provide a predetermined roughness to the treated portion of the coated surface.