Investigation of potential of vacuum-free femtosecond laser sintering for direct printing using silicon carbide nanoparticles without inorganic binder

Kawabori, Tatsuru*; Watanabe, Masashi  ; Imai, Yoshiyuki  ; Ueta, Shohei   ; Yan, X. ; Mizoshiri, Mizue*

We investigated a potential of femtosecond laser sintering of silicon carbide (SiC) using the nanoparticles in air. A SiC nanoparticle ink including polyvinylpyrrolidone and ethylene glycol exhibited intense absorption by SiC nanoparticles at the wavelength of 780 nm. The whole of the sintered film patterns from the surface to the bottom underwent significant oxidation at a scanning speed of 1 mm/s, suggesting that the excessive energy irradiation generated silicon oxides. In contrast, the patterns fabricated by laser scanning at a raster pitch of 30 m at which a sintered area was observed at a scanning speed of 5 mm/s, exhibited no significant difference in oxidation of the raw SiC nanoparticles except for the surfaces from 1.72 m. These results indicate that the irradiation of femtosecond laser pulses generated the sintered SiC patterns without additional atmospheric oxidation of the raw materials because of its low heat accumulation. In additions, the dispersant of polyvinylpyrrolidone and ethylene glycol did not affect the sintering by an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. This vacuum-free direct printing technique has the potential for additive manufacturing.