NWLEC RESEARCH

The project builds on the Northwest’s excellent reputation as a leading region for scientific development. The internationally recognised expertise of the two university research groups, combined with state of the art laser equipment, will lead to the development of novel laser processes that will benefit industry within the region.
Laser processes under investigation include:

• Micromachining & surface texturing
• Short pulse laser-material interactions
• Micro & nano particle generation & dynamic manipulation in optical fields
• Laser assisted coating techniques
• Deposition of micro particles for part build & to add functionality to surfaces

The research programme is split into 3 complementary strands. The NWLEC personnel have research interests in one or more of the strands and each strand is coordinated by a strand leader.

Strand 1 Texturing and Machining of Micro and Nano Surfaces

The strand 1 area involves research into the use of lasers to machine micro features onto surfaces and to texture surfaces. Ultrafast lasers are of particular interest in the Femto and Pico second pulse duration regimes. Application areas include the Aerospace, Chemical and Bioscience sectors.

Strand leader: Dr Walter Perrie
NWLEC Strand 1 People: Dr Philip Crouse, Dr David Whitehead, Dr Yudie Yuan, Dr Zengbo Wang, Dr Nikolaos Semaltianos, Dr Stuart Edwardson, Dr Amin Abdolvand

Strand 2 Fibre Lasers Sources for Microprocessing

The strand 2 area involves research into the use of high beam quality high average power fibre lasers for micro-fabrication applications. Areas of interest include vapour deposition and sub-micron particle generation. Key application sectors include Biomedical and Aerospace.

Strand leader: Dr Philip Crouse
NWLEC Strand 2 People: Dr David Whitehead, Dr Yudie Yuan, Dr Amin Abdolvand, Dr Martin Sharp

Strand 3 Microbuilding using Optical Tweezer Technology

The strand 3 area involves developing the capability for the micro and nano object manipulation for engineering manufacture. Two distinct approaches are being employed for this, ‘optical tweezers’ for micron sized objects and ‘scanning probe microscopy’ (SPM) or sometimes referred to as ‘atomic force microscopy’ (AFM) for sub-micron / nanoscale objects. Key application areas are in the Bioscience and Microelectronic sectors.

Strand leader: Dr Stuart Edwardson
NWLEC Strand 3 People: Dr David Whitehead, Dr Yudie Yuan, Dr Dr Zengbo Wang, Dr Nikolaos Semaltianos

The contact details for all NWLEC personnel are available from the people page