Press Releases

The now firmly established “UKP Workshop“ brings together leading experts in ultrashort pulse laser technology every two years. On April 8 and 9, 2025, the 8th UKP Workshop will take place in Aachen, where specialists will present the latest developments in the field of ultrashort pulse laser technology. Around 20 international speakers will give presentations on practical applications and processes with USP lasers. This time, the focus will be on innovative beam shaping solutions specially optimized for different processes. These solutions open up new possibilities for laser-assisted processing in industries such as electronics, energy storage, glass processing and microelectronics.

A new ultrashort pulse (USP) laser beam source from TRUMPF, designed for industrial use, will significantly expand the range of applications of USP laser processes. The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen will be systematically exploring the potential of this beam source with an average output of 1 kW in the coming months. Among other things, experiments are planned to optimize processes in battery and fuel cell production, toolmaking and semiconductor technology, as well as to test various beam guidance strategies. Many of these pilot applications have their origins in the Fraunhofer internal Cluster of Excellence Advanced Photon Sources (CAPS), to which 21 institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft belong.

Ultra-short pulsed (USP) lasers are versatile tools in laser materials processing, but work even more efficiently when the laser pulses are optimally manipulated in space and time. How important this is for the new high-power sources with 300 W and more could be experienced at the “7th UKP Workshop Ultrafast Laser Technology” in Aachen. Visitors could also see how USP lasers make the electrodes of batteries for electric cars or hydrogen systems significantly more efficient.

Every two years, the “UKP Workshop” gives its visitors a sneak peek into the current state of this innovative laser technology. It will be that time again: On April 26 and 27, 2023, the ultrafast laser community will meet in Aachen. In addition to presenting the state of the art in kW beam sources, the workshop will focus on process development and future markets for laser material processing. For two days, experts from research and industry will exchange ideas – finally in live personal contact again.

Together with Hamamatsu, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen has set up an application lab for advanced laser material processing with ultrashort pulsed (USP) laser radiation. In Aachen, the partners jointly developed an industrial processing SLM-head that can use customized, dynamic beam shaping combined with large laser average output powers for a wide range of applications. The applied, new Spatial Light Modulator from Hamamatsu can be operated up to 150 watts of average output power.

Many industries are ready to break new ground in production with lasers. To do this, users and suppliers must reconcile digitalization and sustainability, ecology and economy. As an important means to this end, lasers can be integrated into the emerging process chains so that they interact with the entire upstream and downstream processes, saving both time and money. The more than 520 participants at the AKL'22 International Laser Technology Congress in Aachen learned how the laser community is already proactively tackling these tasks.

After having to take a pandemic break of four years, the industrial laser technology community met at “AKL'22 – International Laser Technology Congress” in Aachen from May 4 to 6, 2022. The industry is doing well, and the biggest trend is the extensive digitalization of processes. At the same time, common beam sources are being pushed to ever new levels of peak performance. New to the conference program was the Quantum Technology & Photonics Forum, where major German companies presented an amazing range of topics.

Until now, wastewater treatment plants have not been able to sufficiently filter out tiny microplastics in wastewater, but this could soon change: The first laser-drilled microplastic filter is being tested in a wastewater treatment plant. It contains sheets with extremely small holes just 10 micrometers in diameter. The technology to efficiently drill millions of such holes was developed at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT, and now the institute’s engineers are scaling up ultrashort-pulse (USP) laser technology in the kW range. Visitors can learn more about the microplastic filter and ultrashort-pulse lasers at the Fraunhofer booth A6.441 at LASER World of PHOTONICS.

A drone hovers in the sky above the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen. It films 50 employees from the “Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF)” department from above as they stand together and form the number 25. The anniversary of the basic patent for LPBF marks an occasion for a video clip: 25 years ago, only one Fraunhofer ILT researcher was actively working on the project and the patent for metallic 3D laser printing was filed in 1996. “This is an auspicious occasion for a retrospective and outlook on our technology,” Jasmin Saewe says, pleased. She has been head of the LPBF competence area at Fraunhofer ILT for several months. Today, she is in charge of around 50 employees and students.

The LASER World of PHOTONICS Industry Days took place from June 21 to 24, 2021. With this online event, Messe München – organizer of the world's largest trade show for applied laser technology and photonics – offered its community a high-quality program including market overviews, trend analyses and panel discussions. Industrial laser technology today and tomorrow was one focus of the program.