Systems, devices, and methods for additive manufacturing are provided that allow for components being manufactured to be assessed during the printing process. As a result, changes to a print plan can be considered, made, and implemented during the printing process. More particularly, in exemplary embodiments, a spectrometer is operated while a component is being printed to measure one or more parameters associated with one or more layers of the component being printed. The measured parameter(s) are then relied upon to determine if any changes are needed to the way printing is occurring, and if such changes are desirable, the system is able to implement such changes during the printing process. By way of non-limiting examples, printed material in one or more layers may be reheated to alter the printed component, such as to remove defects identified by the spectrometer data. A variety of systems, devices, and methods for performing real-time sensing and control of an additive manufacturing process are also provided.

A surface treating method and apparatus include operating a quasi-continuous wave fiber laser and pre-scan shaping the laser beam such that an instantaneous spot beam has predetermined geometrical dimensions, intensity profile, and power; operating a scanner at an optimal angular velocity and angular range to divide the pre-scan beam into a plurality of sub-beams deflected towards the surface being processed; guiding the sub-beams through a post-scan optical assembly to provide the spot beam with predetermined geometrical dimensions, power, and angular velocity and range, which are selected such that the instantaneous spot beam is dragged in a scan direction over a desired length at a desired scan velocity, which allow the treated surface to be exposed for a predetermined exposure duration and have a predetermined fluence distribution providing the treated surface with a quality comparable to that of the surface processed by an excimer laser or a burst-mode fiber laser.

Disclosed herein is a laser processing apparatus including a beam swinging unit provided between a pulsed laser oscillator and a focusing unit for swinging the optical path of a pulsed laser beam oscillated from the pulsed laser oscillator and then introducing the pulsed laser beam to the focusing unit. The beam swinging unit includes a polygon scanner provided on the upstream side of the focusing unit for scanning the pulsed laser beam oscillated from the pulsed laser oscillator and introducing the pulsed laser beam scanned to the focusing unit and an acoustooptic deflecting unit provided on the upstream side of the polygon scanner and on the downstream side of the pulsed laser oscillator for deflecting the optical path of the pulsed laser beam oscillated from the pulsed laser oscillator and introducing the pulsed laser beam deflected to the polygon scanner.

A laser processing apparatus includes a light source configured to generate a laser beam, and a light converging optical system configured to converge laser beam to a focal point at an object to be processed, the light converging optical system including a through-hole optical element and a composite optical element under the through-hole optical element, wherein the through-hole optical element includes a first recess portion configured as a concave mirror at a lower surface of the through-hole optical element, and wherein an upper surface of the composite optical element is convex and includes a first region configured to reflect the laser beam and a second region configured to transmit the laser beam.

An apparatus and method for making a three-dimensional object from a solidifiable material using two photon absorption is described. The use of two photon absorption allows for the creation of a non-solidification zone beneath the exposed surface of a solidifiable material so that no separation is required between the most recently solidified layer of the object and a substrate such as a glass, a film, or a glass/film combination. In addition, when used with a linear scanning device, two photon absorption causes solidification to occur within a small spot area, which provides a means for creating larger, higher resolution objects than DLP systems or laser systems that use single photon absorption.

A machining apparatus for laser machining a workpiece in a machining zone is provided, having an interface for a machining laser source for generating a machining laser beam with a direction of propagation; an outlet opening for the machining laser beam; and an optical system between the interface and the outlet opening, wherein the optical system has: at least one optical unit that adjusts the focal length of the optical system, and at least one stationary laser beam guiding device with at least one movable surface, wherein the at least one movable surface can be adjusted such that it modifies the focal length of the optical system and/or the beam parameter product of the machining laser beam integrated over time in at least one operating mode. Further provided is a method for laser machining a workpiece.

A laser cutting head with movable mirrors may be used to move a beam, for example, to provide beam alignment and/or to provide different wobble patterns for cutting with different kerf widths. The laser cutting head includes a cutting nozzle for directing the laser beam together with a gas to a workpiece for cutting. The movable mirrors provide a wobbling movement of the beam within a relatively small field of view, for example, within an aperture of the cutting nozzle. The movable mirrors may be galvanometer mirrors that are controllable by a control system including a galvo controller. The control system may also be used to control the fiber laser, for example, in response to the position of the beams relative to the workpiece and/or a sensed condition in the cutting head such as a thermal condition proximate one of the mirrors.

A method for creating an iridescent effect on a surface through formation of wavelets on the source can include using a pulse of laser beams sent to the surface in juxtaposed optical fields of a focusing system. A scanner scans the surface using laser beams along a series of lines that follow each other in a relative direction of travel of the part and of the scanner and a series of lines that lie in continuation of each other in a direction perpendicular to the relative direction of travel. The optical fields overlap in an overlapping area having a width that is twice the diameter of the pulse laser beam up to 2 cm. Two lines lying in continuation of each other overlap at a junction and between the two series of lines follow each other in a relative direction of travel of the part and the scanner.

A polygon mirror rotates around a rotational axis. First and second reflection surfaces are placed on at least two of a plurality of sides of the polygon mirror, respectively. The first surface is formed in a planar shape inclined to a plane perpendicular to the rotational axis. The second surface is formed in a planar shape inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotational axis. Light which enters into the mirror is reflected by the first surface and then by the second surface. Among the sides, at least one of a direction in which the first surface is inclined with respect to a plane perpendicular to the rotational axis and a distance in the direction of the rotational axis between the first and second reflection surfaces is different.

A laser marking method of performing marking by irradiating an object made of a resin with laser light, the laser marking method including: a first step of melting of carbonizing a first region of the object; and a second step of engraving a mark by irradiating a second region in the first region with the laser light.