A new tool for precision manufacturing: Dr. Jens König, Dr. Thorsten Bauer, Dr. Markus Willert und Ulrich Graf introduced a new laser tool into mass production. Ultrafast lasers can be used for fast and precise machining of very delicate structures in various materials, much smaller than the width of a human hair. Bosch implemented the first applications of this new technology in the mass production of sensors and diesel injection systems.

The specialty of the new tool is the compression of the energy of light into very small time intervals. Each interval lasts a couple of picoseconds, a duration in which even light travels only a milimeter in distance. Within this unimaginable short time the power of the light pulses reach several hundred megawatts, the same level of power otherwise produced by electric powerplants. Any material exposed to such a laser beam instantanously evaporizes without melting or prior heating effects. This allows for a highly precise machining without burrs or thermal side effects.

An ultrafast laser micromaching system is in operation since 2007 at the Bosch plant in Bamberg in the production of exhaust gas sensors. They are made of a special ceramic and can measure the exhaust gas properties faster and more precisely. This enables car engine electronic controls to further reduce the emission of pollutants. Bosch is also in the process of introducing ultrafast laser micromachining in the manufacturing of common rail injectors for state-of-the-art diesel injection systems. Here they produce a micro groove that allows for a tight system even at increased pressures of up to 2000 bar, making them more reliable, powerfull and environment-friendly.