Direct laser fabrication of aluminum-alloy slot antenna array

Aluminum-alloy samples of slot antenna array were fabricated directly on a Nd:YAG laser cutting system and the combined effects of power and feed rate on slot size, surface roughness, and striation frequency have been studied. Regression analysis was used to develop models that describe the effect of the independent process parameters on laser cut quality of aluminum-alloy slot array. For the range of operation conditions tested, it was observed that power had a major effect on slot size, while feed rate affects were secondary. On the other hand, surface roughness and striation frequency were affected most by feed rate. At low power levels, low feed rates gave good surface roughness and low striation frequency. For optimum laser fabricating property, the surface roughness is kept at a minimum. The dimension size can be controlled within the error allowance (mu m level), and the productivity is improved more effectively than that of other methods, such as EDM, milling. By changing the antenna from the milling slot antenna to the laser fabrication, the detected sensitivity improved by 2-3 times