Modifying the surface chemistry of a material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10106880-B2
Application number	US-201615077352-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 22, 2016
Priority date	Dec 31, 2013
Publication date	Oct 23, 2018
Grant date	Oct 23, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to modifying a material's surface chemistry and surface profile using a pulsed laser. In embodiments, a system comprises: a material, the material including a surface portion having a surface chemistry; an enclosure, the enclosure containing a gaseous mixture having a non-atmospheric composition; and a pulsed laser configured to emit at least one laser pulse, the at least one laser pulse being directed to pass through the gaseous mixture onto the surface portion thereby modifying the surface chemistry of the surface portion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for modifying the surface chemistry of a material, the system comprising:
a material, the material including a surface portion having a surface chemistry;
an enclosure, the enclosure containing a gaseous mixture having a non-atmospheric composition; and
a pulsed laser configured to emit at least one laser pulse, the at least one laser pulse being directed to pass through the gaseous mixture onto the surface portion, thereby modifying the surface chemistry of the surface portion.

2. The system of claim 1 , the enclosure including an aperture and the pulsed laser being directed to pass through the aperture before passing through the gaseous mixture and onto the surface portion.

3. The system of claim 1 , the surface chemistry comprising at least one of: a titanium oxide, a pure titanium and a titanium alloy, the gaseous mixture comprising a concentration of nitrogen greater than 78%, and the modified surface chemistry comprising titanium nitride.

4. The system of claim 1 , the surface chemistry comprising Fe 2 O 3 , the gaseous mixture comprising at least one of: argon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, and the modified surface chemistry comprising Fe 3 O 4 .

5. The system of claim 1 , the surface chemistry including at least one of: titanium, a nickel alloy, copper, ceramic coated steel, aluminum, Fe 2 O 3 , tantalum, hafnium, zirconium and silicon.

6. The system of claim 1 , the gaseous mixture including one of the following: a concentration of nitrogen greater than 78% or a concentration of argon greater than 50%.

7. The system of claim 1 , the at least one pulse having a duration less than 1,000 femtoseconds.

8. The system of claim 1 , the at least one laser pulse having a wavelength between 100 nanometers and 3000 nanometers.

9. The system of claim 1 , the at least one laser pulse comprising multiple laser pulses and the pulsed laser having a frequency between 50 kilohertz and 200 kilohertz.

10. The system of claim 1 , the pulsed laser having a peak pulse power between 10 microjoules and 50 microjoules.

11. The system of claim 1 , the at least one laser pulse having a spot size between 50 microns and 100 microns.

12. A system for modifying the surface chemistry of a material, the system comprising:
a material, the material including a surface portion having a surface chemistry;
a gaseous mixture introducer configured to introduce a gaseous mixture having a non-atmospheric composition across the surface portion; and
a pulsed laser configured to emit at least one laser pulse, the at least one laser pulse being directed to pass through the gaseous mixture onto the surface portion, thereby modifying the surface chemistry of the surface portion.

13. The system of claim 12 , the surface chemistry comprising at least one of: a titanium oxide, a pure titanium and a titanium alloy, the gaseous mixture comprising a concentration of nitrogen greater than 78%, and the modified surface chemistry comprising titanium nitride.

14. The system of claim 12 , the surface chemistry comprising Fe 2 O 3 , the gaseous mixture comprising at least one of: argon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, and the modified surface chemistry comprising Fe 3 O 4 .

15. The system of claim 12 , the surface chemistry including at least one of: titanium, a nickel alloy, copper, ceramic coated steel, aluminum, Fe 2 O 3 , tantalum, hafnium, zirconium and silicon.

16. The system of claim 12 , the gaseous mixture including one of the following: a concentration of nitrogen greater than 78% or a concentration of argon greater than 50%.

17. The system of claim 12 , the at least one pulse having a duration less than 1,000 femtoseconds.

18. The system of claim 12 , the at least one laser pulse having a wavelength between 100 nanometers and 3000 nanometers.

19. The system of claim 12 , the at least one laser pulse comprising multiple laser pulses and the pulsed laser having a frequency between 50 kilohertz and 200 kilohertz.

20. The system of claim 12 , the pulsed laser having a peak pulse power between 10 microjoules and 50 microjoules.

21. The system of claim 12 , the at least one laser pulse having a spot size between 50 microns and 100 microns.

22. A system for modifying the surface chemistry of a material, the system comprising:
a material, the material including a surface portion having a surface chemistry;
at least one of a liquid substance and a solid substance disposed proximal to the surface portion; and
a pulsed laser configured to emit at least one laser pulse, the at least one laser pulse being directed to pass through the substance onto the surface portion, thereby modifying the surface chemistry of the surface portion.

23. The system of claim 22 , the surface chemistry comprising at least one of titanium, tantalum, hafnium, zirconium, silicon and aluminum and the liquid substance comprising liquid hydrocarbon.

24. The system of claim 22 , the surface chemistry comprising at least one of titanium, tantalum, hafnium, zirconium, silicon or aluminum and the solid substance comprising at least one of carbon or boron.

25. The system of claim 22 , the at least one pulse having a duration less than 1,000 femtoseconds.

26. The system of claim 22 , the at least one laser pulse having a wavelength between 100 nanometers and 3000 nanometers.

27. The system of claim 22 , the at least one laser pulse comprising multiple laser pulses and the pulsed laser having a frequency between 50 kilohertz and 200 kilohertz.

28. The system of claim 22 , the pulsed laser having a peak pulse power between 10 microjoules and 50 microjoules.

29. The system of claim 22 , the at least one laser pulse having a spot size between 50 microns and 100 microns.

30. A method for modifying the surface chemistry of a material, the method comprising:
providing a material, the material including a surface portion having a surface chemistry;
exposing the surface portion to a gaseous mixture having a non-atmospheric composition; and
exposing the surface portion to at least one laser pulse while the surface portion is exposed to the gaseous mixture, the at least one laser pulse passing through the gaseous mixture onto the surface portion, thereby modifying the surface chemistry of the surface portion.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein exposing the surface portion to the gaseous mixture comprises the steps of:
enclosing the surface portion and a portion of space adjacent the surface portion; and
adding the gaseous mixture into the enclosure.

32. The method of claim 30 , wherein exposing the surface portion to the gaseous mixture comprises injecting the gaseous mixture to a space adjacent the surface portion.

33. The method of claim 30 , wherein providing a material comprises providing a material having a first portion with surface chemistry of at least one of: a titanium oxide, a pure titanium and a titanium alloy, the gaseous mixture comprising a concentration of nitrogen greater than 78%, and the modified surface chemistry comprising titanium nitride.

34. The method of claim 30 , wherein providing a material comprises providing a material having a first portion with surface chemistry of Fe 2 O 3 , the gaseous mixture comprising at least one of: argon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrog

Assignees

• Us Navy
• Us Navy

Inventors

• Seghi Steven
• Kalishek Jason

Classifications

• B23K2203/08

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B23K2203/42

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B23K26/0624

  using ultrashort pulses, i.e. pulses of 1 ns or less · CPC title

• B23K26/14

  using a fluid stream, e.g. a jet of gas, in conjunction with the laser beam; Nozzles therefor (B23K26/12 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B23K2203/50

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic