The project “Development of UKP laser systems for high‑speed processing of next‑generation batteries – 3DBat‑EW” was carried out by EdgeWave GmbH from 1 February 2019 to 30 October 2022 as part of the larger consortium “Concepts for the construction of electrode architectures for high‑energy and high‑performance batteries of the next generation – Next‑Gen‑3DBat”. The German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMBF) funded the work under the reference WABC100355714. The consortium included the Institute of Applied Materials and Surface Engineering (IWS), the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Institute of Scientific and Engineering (ISE). EdgeWave was responsible for the design, construction and characterization of two laser demonstrators, while the partner institutes supplied process targets and evaluated the laser performance for battery cell structuring.
The picosecond (ps) laser demonstrator was built to meet stringent specifications for direct laser interference patterning (DLIP) and direct laser structuring of battery layers. It operates at 1064 nm or 532 nm, delivers a pulse duration of 13 ps, a repetition rate of 200 kHz (freely triggerable), and a pulse energy exceeding 800 µJ at 1064 nm and 400 µJ at 532 nm. The beam quality is M² < 1.3 and the coherence length is greater than 3 mm. The system achieves an average power of over 90 W at 100 kHz, corresponding to a pulse energy of more than 900 µJ, and reaches a maximum of 220 W at 250 kHz, well above the target values. The intensity distribution in near‑ and far‑field measurements confirms a circular Gaussian or top‑hat profile with M² < 1.2. The ps demonstrator was delivered to IWS for process development and later to ISE for application studies.
The femtosecond (fs) laser demonstrator operates at 1030 nm, with a pulse duration of 600 fs, a repetition rate of 5 MHz (freely triggerable and adjustable up to 50 MHz externally), and a pulse energy of 100 µJ. Its maximum average power is 500 W, and the beam quality remains M² < 1.3 with a circular Gaussian intensity distribution. This system was provided to KIT for battery cell structuring experiments. The fs laser’s performance satisfies all partner‑defined specifications and enables high‑speed, high‑quality structuring of electrode layers.
Both demonstrators were fully characterized, and the measured parameters matched or exceeded the design goals. The ps system’s pulse energy and average power surpassed the initial targets by more than a factor of two, while the fs system achieved the required high repetition rate and average power for rapid processing. The project also validated the InnoSlab laser concept licensed by EdgeWave, demonstrating that electro‑optically switched InnoSlab lasers can deliver the necessary power and beam quality for battery manufacturing.
The results will be disseminated through publications at SPIE Photonics West and ICALEO, with acknowledgments of the BMBF funding. The successful completion of the demonstrators and the achievement of all technical milestones confirm the feasibility of using high‑power ps and fs lasers for next‑generation battery electrode fabrication, providing a foundation for further industrial scaling and integration into battery production lines.