Laser micromachining of CNT/Fe/Al2O3 nanocomposites
(1. School of Information and Communication Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea;
2. Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon, 305-343, Korea;
3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, 426-791, Korea;
4. NANOBASE Inc., B505 Woolim Lions Valley, Seoul, 153-786, Korea;
5. School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea;
6. National Core Research Center for Hybrid Materials Solution, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735, Korea)
2. Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials, Daejeon, 305-343, Korea;
3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University, Ansan, 426-791, Korea;
4. NANOBASE Inc., B505 Woolim Lions Valley, Seoul, 153-786, Korea;
5. School of Mechanical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 440-746, Korea;
6. National Core Research Center for Hybrid Materials Solution, Pusan National University, Busan, 609-735, Korea)
Abstract: CNT/Fe/Al2O3 mixed powders were synthesized from Fe/Al2O3 nanopowders using thermal CVD for the homogeneous dispersion of carbon nanotubes CNTs. CNTs consisted of MWNT, and the diameter was approximately 20-30 nm. After sintering, CNTs were homogenously located throughout Al2O3 grain boundary and were buckled. A femto-second laser installed with special optical systems was used for micromachining of the nanocomposites. The relationship between material ablation rate and energy fluence was theoretically investigated and compared with experimental results from cross-sectional SEM analysis. The nanocomposites which have higher content of CNT show a fairly good machining result due to its higher thermal conductivity and smaller grain size as well as lower light transmittance.
Key words: nanocomposite; femto-second laser; micromachining; carbon nanotubes