Ultrafast pulsed laser joins ceramics

Described in Science, the new ceramic welding technology has developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego and the University of California Riverside.

The process is said to use an ultrafast pulsed laser to melt ceramic materials along the interface and fuse them together. It works in ambient conditions and uses under 50W of laser power, making it more practical than current ceramic welding methods that require heating the parts in a furnace.

Ceramics have been fundamentally challenging to weld together because they need extremely high temperatures to melt, exposing them to extreme temperature gradients that cause cracking, said senior author Javier E Garay, a professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and engineering at UC San Diego, who led the work in collaboration with UC Riverside professor and chair of mechanical engineering Guillermo Aguilar.

Ceramics are an ideal material for biomedical implants and protective casings for electronics because they are biocompatible, extremely hard and shatter-resistant. However, current ceramic welding procedures preclude such devices.