Fraunhofer ILT develops process to shape hard material components by USP laser

16 Oct 2025

USP laser forms and structures via ablation then polishes tool surfaces in single clamping operation.

Tools made of hard materials and ceramics such as tungsten carbide are particularly wear-resistant. However, the tools used to manufacture them wear out all the faster – unless the tool is laser light. Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) have developed a process chain in which hard material components can be shaped and polished using an ultrashort pulse (USP) laser without changing the clamping setup.

Drills, milling heads, rollers, and even punch inserts made of ceramic hard materials not only bite into the workpiece, but also last significantly longer. Yet the same wear resistance that makes them so durable in production becomes a major challenge during their manufacture. The tools used to shape and finish them find the mixed-carbide hard metals, cermets, and ceramics a tough nut to crack — and wear rates are correspondingly high when mechanical processing methods are used.

USP lasers work where mechanical processes flag

This is different with ultrashort laser pulses. Even commercially available USP lasers with a power of 20 to 40 W are capable of efficiently removing the hard materials used in toolmaking. The material vaporizes where their high-energy pulses – lasting just a few picoseconds – hit the surface. Since this happens at frequencies in the megahertz range, laser material ablation reaches surface rates of up to 100 cm² per minute.

But the potential of USP processing is not limited to forming materials by vaporizing them. Researchers at the ILT have developed a process chain in which the same USP laser not only forms and structures via ablation, but also subsequently polishes the tool surfaces.

“The USP laser is a universal tool we use to conduct various processing steps, sometimes in the same clamping operation,” said Sönke Vogel, team leader for 3D Structural Ablation at the ILT, who has been driving the process forward together with Astrid Saßmannshausen, team leader for Structuring of Transparent Materials.

The key to linking the process steps lies in the parameterization of the laser: While material is ablated with high pulse energy and a low repetition rate, the opposite is true for polishing. The USP laser introduces energy into the surface of the workpiece at a pulse frequency of up to 50 MHz, where this energy accumulates and only melts the top 0.2–2.0 µm.

The material does not vaporize, but forms a molten film that smooths itself out due to surface tension and solidifies as it cools. The surface properties can also be controlled via the process control. “With USP laser polishing, for example, it is possible to smooth out micro-irregularities while retaining macroscopic structures,” said Saßmannshausen.

In addition, the laser process makes it possible to polish complex 3D surfaces with micrometer precision. Specific areas can be selectively treated to adjust surface properties locally or to finish only the necessary zones — saving time in the process.

Efficient hard material machining

Depending on the process requirements, laser polishing achieves surface rates of ten to 100 cm² per minute, which is almost on par with the surface rates of the preceding material ablation. “The combination of both processes with a laser in the same clamping operation enables companies to expand their range of services with existing USP lasers or to significantly accelerate the amortization of a new purchase,” said Saßmannshausen.

Above all, however, it is suitable for replacing mechanical processes for machining hard materials, thus putting an end to the sometimes immense tool wear involved in their manufacture. This not only reduces costs, but also specifically improves resource and energy efficiency in practice.