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Research and Development Projects

For over 46 years, Oxford Lasers has participated in many R&D projects leading to continuous development of applications

UltraWELD Project

The ULTRAWELD Project received funding from the Innovate UK Research and Innovation Collaborative R&D Programme under Project Ref. 103763.

Project UltraWELD focused on the development of photonic-based processes for highly dissimilar material joining in manufacturing of complex electro optics devices for defense/aerospace applications and OLED lighting. Ultrafast (i.e. pico- or femto-second pulsed) laser welding of glass to metals is proposed as an alternative to other bonding techniques that currently fail to provide a satisfactory solution on demanding requirements for device hermetic sealing and suffer from device degradation due to outgassing of volatile components in adhesives. We developed new ultrafast laser processes for dissimilar material joining (microwelding) and also design and build a flexible custom laser prototype machine capable of applications development to demonstrate such laser microwelding in key selected real devices at TRL level 6. The project will directly benefit all five industry partners by enabling early adoption of this technology from end users, to enhance product competitiveness by increasing reliability and in-service lifetime and reduce cost of ownership.

Project Timeline

January 2018 – Project Launch

March 2019 – Project Update: Successfully welded dissimilar materials, glass to metal welding achieved.

June 2020 – Project close

Related Articles

Macdonald, K (2019), ‘‘Revolutionary’ weld joins glass to metal’, BBC Scotland, March 1st 2019, available at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-47402068 (link opens in new window)


Laser Systems Europe, (2019) ‘Ultrafast laser used to successfully weld glass to metal’, March 1st  2019, available at https://www.lasersystemseurope.com/news/ultrafast-laser-used-successfully-weld-glass-metal (link opens in window)


Happich, J (2018), ‘The UltraWELD project to improve OLED encapsulation’, EE News Europe, August 10th  2018, available at https://www.eenewseurope.com/news/ultraweld-project-improve-oled-encapsulation (link opens in new window)

Project Partners

  • Oxford Lasers Ltd 
  • Heriot-Watt University
  • Coherent Scotland Ltd
  • Glass Technology Services Ltd
  • Gooch & Housego (UK) Ltd
  • Centre for Process Innovation Ltd
  • Leonardo MW Ltd

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