Research Progress on Laser Cutting and Separation of Glass Materials

In recent years, laser cutting technology has made significant progress in the field of glass material processing, especially in improving cutting quality, efficiency, and adaptability to different thicknesses of glass materials. Here is a summary of the latest research progress:

Due to its non-diffractive characteristics, the Bessel beam has become one of the preferred light sources for glass cutting. Studies have shown that when cutting 1 mm thick quartz glass with a Bessel beam having a non-diffractive distance of 815 μm, the edge chipping can be controlled within 20 μm, and the cutting speed can reach 500 mm/s. This type of beam performs exceptionally well when cutting glass thinner than its non-diffractive distance, achieving high-quality cutting results.

The Gaussian beam demonstrates higher flexibility when cutting thicker glass. By using a multi-pass scanning method, the Gaussian beam can cut quartz glass much thicker than the beam's Rayleigh length. For example, when cutting 2 mm thick quartz glass, the kerf width can be controlled within 10 μm, with a cutting speed of 30 mm/s. However, the cut surface from Gaussian beam cutting may have defects and higher surface roughness. Therefore, for thinner glass cutting, the Bessel beam remains a better choice.

Femtosecond laser technology, with its ultra-short pulse duration and high precision, has been widely used for high-quality glass cutting. For example, combining femtosecond laser with chemical etching can achieve high-quality cutting of quartz glass with millimeter-level thickness. Additionally, femtosecond lasers can be used to fabricate photonic crystal structures with high aspect ratios, further expanding their applications in micro- and nano-processing.

In industrial processing, the choice between Bessel and Gaussian beams depends on the thickness of the glass and the processing requirements. For glass thinner than the beam's non-diffractive distance, the Bessel beam is preferred because it can achieve a smoother cutting surface and higher cutting speed. For thicker glass, the multi-pass scanning cutting process using the Gaussian beam is more cost-effective.

Future research will focus on further optimizing laser parameters (such as pulse energy, overlap rate, and pulse width) to improve cutting quality and efficiency. Additionally, combining machine learning and neural network technologies may enable the automation of laser cutting processes.

In summary, laser cutting technology has shown great potential in glass material processing. By selecting the appropriate type of laser and optimizing process parameters, high-quality and efficient glass cutting can be achieved.