Work

Direct μJ-Level Femtosecond Laser Welding of Fused Silica to Titanium Foil Without Interlayer

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Direct welding of fused silica to pure titanium (Ti) foil using conventional methods faces significant challenges, such as poor interfacial wettability, insufficient joint strength, and the need for interlayers or surface pretreatments. Existing femtosecond (fs) laser welding techniques for these materials often require high-energy millijoule (mJ)-level pulses or alloy interlayers. Moreover, reports on direct microjoule (μJ)-level fs laser welding of Ti foil to fused silica remain scarce. This study successfully demonstrates a direct welding process for pure Ti foil and fused silica using μJ-level fs laser pulses under ambient conditions, achieving joints with a maximum shear strength of 9.19 MPa. Microstructural analysis revealed an elemental interdiffusion region at the weld interface, supported by mechanical interlocking effects. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed the occurrence of interfacial chemical reactions, forming titanium silicide (TiSi2) and titanium oxide (TiO2). Additionally, a 24 h water immersion test of a square sealed cavity revealed outstanding hermeticity, with no water ingress. This work provides a simple, efficient, and robust solution for high-strength, additive-free bonding of fused silica to Ti foil under low-energy processing conditions.

Source: Photonics

DOI: 10.3390/photonics13050437

Authors: Haisong Tang, Shuang Liu, Huan Zhan, Guanghua Cheng, Wei Zhang

Institutions: Chengdu University of Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University

Language: English

Topic: Laser Material Processing Techniques

Subfield: Computational Mechanics

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896

Funder: National Natural Science Foundation of China