An apparatus and method of fabricating particles composed of metals, conducting polymers, semiconductors, and composites of such materials are provided. The method includes application of an editing tool, such as a laser, for patterning an editable structure that mounted on an electrically conductive substrate. Portions of the editable structure may be removed so as to allow electrodeposition.

A method and system to manufacture workpieces employing a high intensity energy source to create a puddle and at least one resistively heated wire which is heated to at or near its melting temperature and deposited into the puddle as droplets.

There is provided a power supply device that supplies an output current to an electric processing device which performs electric processing on workpieces. The device includes: a first power supply; a magnetic energy recovery switch that receives a current supplied from the first power supply, and converts the received current into the output current; and a control unit that controls the magnetic energy recovery switch such that an electric current frequency of the output current includes a first electric current frequency and a second electric current frequency which are different from each other within a one-time electric processing time using the electric processing device.

A method and system to manufacture workpieces employing a high intensity energy source to create a puddle and at least one resistively heated wire which is heated to at or near its melting temperature and deposited into the puddle as droplets.

A system and method depositing metal to form a three-dimensional (3D) part on a substrate. A wire is moved relative to a location on the substrate while a laser heats a proximal end of the wire at the location using a laser beam. The laser causes the wire and substrate to reach a melting point of the wire to fuse the wire at the location on the substrate. The wire can be preheated by passing a current through the wire.

Deposition of debris produced in laser ablation of a workpiece situated in a vacuum chamber is reduced by introduction a background gas into the vacuum chamber prior to or during laser ablation. The background gas can be introduced diffusely into the vacuum chamber and can reduce contamination of surfaces such as a surface of an optical window that faces the workpiece during processing. Directed introduction of a background gas can be used as well and in some cases the same or a different background gas is directed to a workpiece surface at the same or different pressure than that associated with diffuse introduction of the background gas to reduce contamination of the workpiece surface with laser ablation debris.

A method and system to manufacture workpieces employing a high intensity energy source to create a puddle and at least one resistively heated wire which is heated to at or near its melting temperature and deposited into the puddle as droplets.

In order to provide an improved method for producing metal structures which allows a high level of flexibility in respect of process speed of production, material composition of the metal structure, production accuracy, and the quality of the produced metal structure, according to the invention, a second metal additive is supplied to a welding point on a metal base material, which second metal additive is fused at least by a second electric arc produced between a second electrode and the metal base material in order to produce a second weld seam at the welding point, wherein different materials are used as the first metal additive and as the second metal additive, and wherein the first metal additive and the second metal additive are supplied to the welding point sequentially in time and are fused in the region of the welding point in whichever of the first and second electric arcs is burning, in order to form the three-dimensional metal structure.

The invention relates to a device (2) for working a surface (4) of a workpiece (6) by means of a laser beam (8), comprising a laser system (12) for providing the laser beam (8) and a plasma nozzle (14), which is designed to produce an atmospheric plasma jet (16), wherein the plasma nozzle (14) has a nozzle opening (24, 24′), from which a plasma jet (8) produced in the plasma nozzle (24, 24′) exits during operation, wherein the laser system (12) and the plasma nozzle (14) are arranged in relation to each other and designed in such a way that, during operation, the laser beam (8) exits from the nozzle opening (24, 24′) of the plasma nozzle (14) together with the plasma jet (16). The invention further relates to an assembly (100) having such a device and to a method for operating said device (2).

A machining condition adjustment device adjusts settings of an ionizer so as to neutralize a charge carried by plasma generated during laser beam machining of a workpiece by a laser beam machining device, calculates an amount of charge per unit time that is to be radiated from the ionizer, based on the amount of charge carried by the plasma generated during the laser beam machining, and sets the ionizer to radiate the calculated amount of charge per unit time.