Laser Technology for Materials Processing

Since its discovery (~1950), the laser has been widely applied in industry, also being the topic of numerous research projects and over 500 k scientific publications in the last 5 years. This research has increased over the years, due to the laser's ability to change the properties of a wide range of materials. This technology presents the advantages in controlling laser parameters such as energy, duration and shape/geometry, resulting in the almost total control of the process to locally change the material structure at the surface or even in bulk-an advantage for existing technologies. It is well known that the interaction of a laser beam with materials can result in many industrial applications such as oxide/ceramics, metals, polymers and wood materials.A large scientific community of chemists, physicists and materials scientists are seeking ways of improving laser applications for new materials and devices. In this Reprint, we will collect the newest advances in laser research, including new processing techniques, material designs, characterization, etc. From this Reprint, readers will obtain up-to-date information on the recent progress in laser technology for materials processing.