Digital Photonics for next generation laser material processing

The field of laser technology has reached a pivotal juncture, transitioning from a specialized tool to a widely accessible commodity, as evidenced by decreasing beam source costs and increasing component availability in a growing market. This evolution brings forth the imperative for novel system technologies that emphasize low cost, high productivity and scalable system technology. Digital Photonics addresses this by photonics-requirements-driven wholistic development of system technology. This novel system technology includes advancements in kinematic systems for scalable low-cost applications e.g. by using mobile robotics, optical system technology – e.g. cascading beam systems – to enhance precision and efficiency and sensory systems to increase accuracy such as speckle-based relative displacement sensing. Moreover, the software and system architecture landscape of laser systems need to undergo a significant transformation. Modular and flexible system design based on e.g., microservice or publisher-subscriber architecture lays the groundwork. Artificial Intelligence applications provide solutions to previously not solved problems in e.g. automated process parameter optimization.