Process for controlling powder size with optical energy
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorJohn S. Haggerty
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Metal or ceramic powders having a narrow size distribution are produced by passing a gas entrained powder through an intense light beam which couples preferentially with the larger particles to heat and selectively vaporize a portion of the larger particles until their diameter approximates the desired size.
Claims6
The process for producing a metal or ceramic powder having a narrow size distribution which comprises forming a dilute mixture of a metal or ceramic powder in a gas and passing said mixture through a collimated beam of intense light which coupled with the larger particles in said mixture to vaporize a portion of said larger particles until said larger particles have a diameter that approximates a minimum wavelength of said beam, and recovering the particles which have passed through said beam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.