LASEA develops and manufactures very-high-precision laser micromachining solutions, mainly using ultrashort pulse technology, including nanometric and micrometric surface texturing solutions. This international group has a parent company based in Liège, Belgium, and also includes the firms Laser Cheval and Optec. It is leveraging the expertise it acquired in the medical, luxury goods and electronics sectors to unlock new markets, initially aerospace and, for the past year and a half, defence, with a shift in research budgets towards this industry.
“In defence and aerospace, we mainly work in development, with a view to using our technologies and machines for new applications,” explains Pascal Durdu, commercial director at LASEA. We focus on surface functionalisation and thin layer removal. For example, we’re working on hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity, used for de-icing drones and repelling water droplets from camera lenses, as well as on stealth technology, radar and infrared.”
Adhesive-free hermetic joints
LASEA is equally at home with polymers, ceramics, metals and PCBs. With electronics playing a key role in military applications, the Group is exploring developments in areas such as new Through Glass Via (TGV) technology, which uses a glass substrate whose superior electrical insulation properties prevent unwanted electrical interference.
Another field of expertise is heat transfer. The increase in contact surface area made possible by LASEA’s technologies ensures better heat transfer in heat exchangers and therefore faster dissipation. This means, for example, that equipment will be detectable by an infrared camera for a shorter time. The size of some components, such as the micromotor, can also be reduced.
“We also offer microwelding solutions for joining dissimilar materials such as metal/polymers or non-miscible materials such as glass/glass, enabling the creation of adhesive-free hermetic joints that can be used in defence applications,” adds Durdu.
Given recent increases in defence funding, the sector’s manufacturers have every interest in turning to innovative SMEs in a field where technologies are evolving very rapidly. “We engage in extensive dialogue and educational work on laser technologies with defence companies that are unfamiliar with these technologies,” explains Durdu. “We conduct workshops before reviewing their applications and identifying areas where lasers can deliver added value.” It is also worth pointing out that lasers consume less energy than traditional machining, use no consumables, provide very high precision, can machine all materials and are athermic in their ultrashort version. What’s more, the flexibility they offer makes them particularly suited to the medium-sized volumes required by the defence industry.
Patrice Desmedt
Come and see Lasea at EPHJ, stand H88
