Metrology for High Power Laser Manufacturing

Continuous-wave high-power lasers have evolved from bulky, inefficient tools with only niche applications to reliable photon appliances that have rapidly been adopted by industry. Accordingly, the measurement of these laser systems has also evolved. The Sources and Detectors group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) develops and maintains traceable, primary standards for high-power lasers from 1 watt to over 100 kilowatts. In this talk, I will give an overview of high-power laser metrology at NIST as well as how this metrology is being specifically applied to laser manufacturing.
Historically, high-power laser detectors have been thermal. As an alternative, we have recently developed radiation pressure detection schemes. A radiation pressure-based sensor measures laser power by using a precision balance to measure the force imparted by laser light incident to a mirror. As light no longer needs to be absorbed, very large laser powers can be measured with a much smaller footprint detector and in significantly less time. This approach has led to the lowest uncertainty measurement of a 10 kW laser (0.26 %) by using a multiple reflection approach known as High Amplification Laser-pressure Optic, or HALO.
In addition to improving absolute laser power metrology, the influx of lasers in manufacturing for cutting, welding, and additive manufacturing has led to the development of application specific metrology techniques. Precision laser manufacturing like metal laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (LPBF-AM) necessitates tight processing windows and accurate knowledge of all process parameters, including laser power. For this reason, we are surveying a sample of commercial LPBF-AM systems across the United States to determine the accuracy with which they deliver laser power. This work is ongoing but has already shown that the discrepancy in laser power delivery is limited by the uncertainty of the laser power meter used for calibration, typically 4 % to 5 %. In addition to knowing the laser power delivered, process developers also want to know how much of this light energy is being absorbed by the material. We have developed an in situ, time-dependent approach for measuring laser power absorption. This technique has been applied to metal solids and powders and has been combined with other in operando techniques such as high-speed synchrotron X-ray imaging and inline coherent imaging to reveal underlying mechanisms affecting laser power absorption