Industrial picosecond pulse laser welding of stainless-steel to quartz for optical applications

We report on the development of a robust picosecond laser welding process for the industrially relevant material combination of quartz and stainless steel. The process requires high numerical aperture focusing of a 6 ps 1030 nm laser through the transparent quartz onto the interface between the two materials. It is found that increased mechanical pressure applied during welding increases reliability and weld performance and with the correct choice of welding parameters parts will survive ISO standard thermal cycling and vibration testing demonstrating the suitability of the process for industrial application.