Welding Glass to Metal
Prof. Hand and his research team at IPaQS have successfully demonstrated direct welding of extremely dissimilar materials - glass and metal. Previously thought to be impossible, this can be achieved with an ultra-short pulsed laser (pulses of a few picoseconds). This work on welding highly dissimilar materials using ultrashort pulsed lasers has attracted considerable interest from industry. In collaboration with Oxford Lasers, Coherent Scotland, Gooch & Housego, Leonardo, GLS and CPI (part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult), they have been successful in obtaining Innovate UK funding for industrial development of the process, including the design and construction of an ultrafast laser welding machine. This project started in January 2018.