Pulsed femtosecond laser system

• Subject Area: Materials Engineering
• Term: Funded in 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 467354208

Surfaces and their interactions with each other and their environment are of enormous complexity. Understanding them has been and will remain one of the great challenges of the natural sciences. Numerous functional properties of surfaces, such as frictional behavior, biofunctionality, electrical contact resistance, and antimicrobial properties, can be tuned in a wide range by targeted chemical and topographical modification of surfaces. The femtosecond pulse laser system applied for here will mainly serve this functionalization of surfaces. The DLIP (Direct Laser Interference Patterning) technique, which has been significantly developed in the group of the main applicant, will be used to generate periodic surface structures. The planned research areas include the interaction of bacteria and viruses with surfaces and the generation of friction-optimized structures. The equipment applied for is intended to replace an existing system with which extensive research has been carried out in numerous projects (DFG, DLR/ESA, NASA) in recent years. The interdisciplinary research carried out between materials science and biophysics contributes to the main focus NanoBioMed of Saarland University. In (surface) materials processing, femtosecond lasers are of particular interest. Due to the nature of the interaction with matter, this type of laser minimizes the thermal influence on the sample to a minimum through ultrashort pulses while simultaneously ablating material on the (sub-)micrometer scale with high edge and detail sharpness. This laser is thus also ideally suited for the second planned field of application, direct laser writing (DLW) for the targeted production of defined sample geometries, e.g. the production of micro bending beams for mechanical experiments on a small scale. Due to its age, the femtosecond laser system used so far, but no longer supplied with all relevant spare parts, is to be replaced by a more modern system with accessories. In order to exploit the full technical potential, state-of-the-art equipment is requested. In combination with the modernized equipment, the new laser system significantly strengthens and expands the research competence of the involved working groups, which can be mapped across topics and is essential for the further expansion of basic research at a top international level at the Saarbrücken Campus.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Gepulste Femtosekundenlaseranlage
• Instrumentation Group: 5700 Festkörper-Laser
• Applicant Institution: Universität des Saarlandes
• Leader: Professor Dr.-Ing. Frank Mücklich