# US 11,999,107 B2 · Controlled molten metal deposition > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,999,107 B2 - Document ID: US11999107B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 18/269,051 - Filed: 2021-12-23 - Published: 2023-12-14 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2020-12-23 - Assignees: Cornell University - Applicants: Cornell University - Inventors: Atieh Moridi; Kaushalendra K. Singh - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11999107B2 ## CPC - B29C 64/273: pulsed; frequency modulated - B22F 10/22: Direct deposition of molten metal - B22F 10/25: Direct deposition of metal particles, e.g. direct metal deposition [DMD] or laser engineered net shaping [LENS] - B22F 12/33: translatory in the deposition plane - B22F 12/43: pulsed; frequency modulated - B22F 12/50: Means for feeding of material, e.g. heads - B29C 64/141: using only solid materials - B29C 64/223: Foils or films, e.g. for transferring layers of building material from one working station to another - B29C 64/236: for motion in a direction within the plane of a layer - B29C 64/245: Platforms or substrates (support structures intended to be sacrificed after manufacture B29C64/40) - B29C 64/321: Feeding - B29C 64/371: using an environment other than air, e.g. inert gas - C23C 14/048: {using irradiation by energy or particles} - B22F 2999/00: Aspects linked to processes or compositions used in powder metallurgy - B33Y 10/00: Processes of additive manufacturing - B33Y 30/00: Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor - B33Y 40/00: Auxiliary operations or equipment, e.g. for material handling - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) - B22F: WORKING METALLIC POWDER; MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM METALLIC POWDER; MAKING METALLIC POWDER (making alloys by powder metallurgy C22C); APPARATUS OR DEVICES SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR METALLIC POWDER - C23C: COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL BY DIFFUSION INTO THE SURFACE, BY CHEMICAL CONVERSION OR SUBSTITUTION; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL (making metal-coated products by extrusion B21C23/22; covering with metal by connecting pre-existing layers to articles, see the relevant places, e.g. B21D39/00, B23K; metallising of glass C03C; metallising mortars, concrete, artificial stone, ceramics or natural stone C04B41/00; enamelling of, or applying a vitreous layer to, metals C23D; treating metal surfaces or coating of metals by electrolysis or electrophoresis C25D; single-crystal film growth C30B; by metallising textiles D06M11/83; decorating textiles by locally metallising D06Q1/04) - B33Y: ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, i.e. MANUFACTURING OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL [3D] OBJECTS BY ADDITIVE DEPOSITION, ADDITIVE AGGLOMERATION OR ADDITIVE LAYERING, e.g. BY 3D PRINTING, STEREOLITHOGRAPHY OR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING ## Abstract An additive manufacturing system includes an apparatus to facilitate production at the microscale using metal sheet as feedstock. The additive manufacturing system uses energy from a pulsed laser beam for ejection of metallic droplets to consolidate a part in a layer-by-layer manner. The system may include an enclosure, a stage, a substrate, a feedstock advancement device, an optically transparent support, and a controller. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An additive manufacturing system, comprising: an enclosure, the enclosure defining an inlet, an exhaust, and an aperture and comprising a substrate upon which a workpiece is to be formed and an optically transparent support disposed between the aperture and the substrate; a pulsed laser, disposed outside the enclosure, positioned to emit one or more pulses through the aperture and into the enclosure; a feedstock comprising a sheet or ribbon of material that is moveable with respect to the transparent support; a feedstock advancement device, at least partially disposed within the enclosure, to advance the feedstock within the enclosure and to maintain the feedstock adjacent the optically transparent support; and a controller to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses through the aperture and the optically transparent support to impinge upon a selected portion of the feedstock to liquefy the selected portion of the feedstock and discharge a droplet of the material from the feedstock onto the substrate or onto a workpiece on the substrate. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the pulsed laser is controllable, via the controller, in an X-plane, a Y-plane and/or both the X-Y planes to raster the laser across the feedstock. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The additive manufacturing system of claim 2, further comprising at least one scanning mirror and wherein the pulsed laser is controllable, via the controller and at least one scanning mirror, in an X-plane, a Y-plane and/or both the X-Y planes to raster the laser across the feedstock. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the inlet is connected to a gas supply line delivering an inert gas, and wherein the exhaust is connected to an external environment to exhaust gas or fumes from the enclosure. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the sheet or ribbon of material comprises a metal, a metal alloy, a plastic, a polymer, a ceramic, a semiconducting material, or a composite of two or more materials. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the pulsed laser comprises a nanosecond (ns)-pulsed laser, a femtosecond (fs)-pulsed laser, or a picosecond (ps)-pulsed laser. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses having a duration that ranges from about 1 ns to about 500 ns. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The additive manufacturing system of claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses having a duration of at most 200 ns. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The additive manufacturing system of claim 8, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses having a duration of about 30 ns. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the pulsed laser has a power density or laser fluence between about 0.001 and about 100 J/cm2. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses that impinge upon the feedstock with a power density or laser fluence that ranges from about 0.001 J/cm2 to about 100 J/cm2. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The additive manufacturing system of claim 11, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses that impinge upon the feedstock with a power density or laser fluence that ranges from about 1.0 J/cm2 to about 30 J/cm2. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The additive manufacturing system of claim 12, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses that impinge upon the feedstock with a power density or laser fluence that ranges from about 1.4 J/cm2 to about 2.8 J/cm2. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to heat a portion of the feedstock to a temperature that ranges from about 0.4 Tm to about 0.7 Tm for the feedstock material. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The additive manufacturing system of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to heat a portion of the feedstock to a temperature of about 0.6 Tm for the feedstock material. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to adjust a print resolution of the workpiece on-the-fly between a first activation of the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses onto a first selected portion of the feedstock and a second activation of the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses onto a second selected portion of the feedstock. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control the pulsed laser to adjust a print resolution of the workpiece on-the-fly by changing at least one of a pulse shape, a pulse duration, a pulse frequency, a pulse power density or laser fluence, a pulse beam size or pulse width, or a number of pulses between the first activation and the second activation. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control a spot size of the one or more pulses by offsetting a focal plane of the pulsed laser relative to an upper surface of the feedstock. ### Claim 19 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses that impinge upon the feedstock with a laser beam spot size that ranges from about 1 μm to about 1000 μm. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The additive manufacturing system of claim 19, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses that impinge upon the feedstock with a laser beam spot size that ranges from about 10 μm to about 30 μm. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The additive manufacturing system of claim 20, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit one or more pulses that impinge upon the feedstock with a laser beam spot size of about 20 μm. ### Claim 22 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the droplet discharged from the feedstock is deposited onto the substrate or onto the workpiece on the substrate directly underneath the selected portion of the feedstock. ### Claim 23 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the substrate is movable. ### Claim 24 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, further comprising a moveable stage disposed within the enclosure, and wherein the substrate is positioned on the moveable stage. ### Claim 25 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the feedstock advancement device comprises one or more guide rollers. ### Claim 26 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the feedstock advancement device comprises a first set of guide rollers on a first side of the optically transparent support and a second set of guide rollers on a second side of the optically transparent support. ### Claim 27 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to advance the feedstock, via the feedstock advancement device, following the discharge of the droplet of the material from the feedstock. ### Claim 28 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to cause the pulsed laser to emit a plurality of pulses through the aperture and the optically transparent support to impinge upon a corresponding plurality of selected portions of the feedstock to liquefy the selected portions of the feedstock and discharge a corresponding plurality of droplets of the material from corresponding portions of the feedstock, each of the plurality of droplets being deposited onto the substrate or onto a workpiece on the substrate underneath the respective selected portions of the feedstock. ### Claim 29 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to advance the feedstock, via the feedstock advancement device, following the discharge of a plurality of droplets of the material from the feedstock from a plurality of selected portions of the feedstock. ### Claim 30 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein droplet of the material is discharged from a bottom portion of the feedstock. ### Claim 31 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the thickness of the feedstock ranges from about 0.5 μm to about 100 μm. ### Claim 32 (depends on 31) The additive manufacturing system of claim 31, wherein the thickness of the feedstock ranges from about 4 μm to about 8 μm. ### Claim 33 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the distance between the feedstock to the substrate ranges from about 100 μm to about 1 m. ### Claim 34 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, further including means for applying an electric field to the droplet as it travels from the feedstock to the substrate. ### Claim 35 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, further including means for applying a magnetic field to the droplet as it travels from the feedstock to the substrate. ### Claim 36 (depends on 1) The additive manufacturing system of claim 1, wherein the location of the transparent support is fixed within the enclosure.