Nanosecond-Pulsed Laser Beam Shaping with a Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator for Rapid Microtexturing of Metallic Surfaces

Ahuir-Torres, JI ORCID: 0000-0002-3160-0223, Franciosa, P, Opoz, TT ORCID: 0000-0001-6579-2238, Sharp, MC ORCID: 0000-0001-9687-4703, Bashir, MB ORCID: 0000-0002-4331-4275 and Kotadia, HR ORCID: 0000-0002-3466-4337 (2026) Nanosecond-Pulsed Laser Beam Shaping with a Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulator for Rapid Microtexturing of Metallic Surfaces. Advanced Photonics Research, 7 (3). pp. 1-8. ISSN 2699-9293

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Abstract

Laser surface texturing can improve the functional properties of metallic materials, with the texture shape being a crucial factor. The spatial light modulator (SLM) is used to design the shape of individual textures. However, generating deep microtextures with precise shapes on metallic materials currently requires extended processing times, limiting their use in industrial applications. This study investigates the generation of the microtexturing patterns with various shapes on stainless steel 316 L surface using a SLM. The method combining computer‐generated holograms with images demonstrates high energy fluence efficiency. The holograms determine the reconstruction distance, shape, and size of the textures. Patterns of the textures with various complex shapes (e.g., circular, triangle, square, hexagon, and other), 6–12 μm depth and 50–70 μm width are achieved using only 5 pulses (200 μs per texture) and 25 kHz pulse frequency rate. This method achieves texturing of 10 × 10 mm areas with various shapes in just 2 s, offering a processing speed ≈500 times faster than current state‐of‐the‐art ultrashort laser pulse techniques, significantly advancing the efficiency of microtexturing processes.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	laser-beam shaping; laser-surface texturing; liquid crystal-spatial light modulator; metallic alloys; nanosecond pulsed laser; laser-beam shaping; laser-surface texturing; liquid crystal-spatial light modulator; metallic alloys; nanosecond pulsed laser; 5102 Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics; 51 Physical Sciences; 7 Affordable and Clean Energy; 5102 Atomic, molecular and optical physics
Subjects:	T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Divisions:	Engineering and Built Environment
Publisher:	Wiley
Date of acceptance:	30 September 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	1 September 2026
Date Deposited:	01 Sep 2026 14:40
Last Modified:	01 Sep 2026 14:40
DOI or ID number:	10.1002/adpr.202500090
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/29267

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