Library · Materials, chemistry & fabrication
What Laser Sintering & Ablation got wrong, from 42 theses
Summary written by a model from the records below: The records document numerous experimental failures and design rejections across laser sintering, selective laser melting, laser additive manufacturing, and laser ablation processes. Performance breakdowns typically stem from suboptimal laser fluence, excessive thermal accumulation, ablative debris deposition, residual thermal stress, and chaotic melt pool dynamics. These records come from graduate theses, 2021 to 2026, each labeled with its degree where the repository states it, and each links to its thesis. They were extracted by language models reading the full text, so treat each as a lead to read, not a verdict.
Plus 9 problems the authors left open, listed at the end.
Failure modes, by theses reporting them
Select a mode to jump to its records.
Excessive thermal input and energy concentration cause overheating, melting, or charring of targets
High laser intensities, low traverse speeds, and multi-photon absorption deliver uncontrolled thermal energy that overheats sensitive substrates. This leads to complete powder bed melting, component charring, structural buckling, and violent disruptions of underlying materials.
Tried and failed
selective laser sintering with high thermal input applied to polymeric solid dispersion powder beds. Outcome: unstable. Reason: low laser speed and high bed temperature caused excessive energy density and complete powder bed melting
Expanding the processing space for amorphous solid dispersions · UT Austin · PhD
Tried and failed
Below-bandgap femtosecond laser writing applied to suspended semiconductor nanostructures. Reason: Nonlinear absorption caused structural melting and ablation of suspended cavities even at low pulse energies.
Formation, integration, and control of semiconductor spin-defects in electronic and photonic devices · Harvard · PhD
Tried and failed
increasing laser pulse energy for particle acceleration applied to laser-driven microparticle acceleration. Reason: direct ablative heating and optical saturation caused particle fracture or melting rather than higher velocity
Tried and failed
ultrafast laser structuring of polymer particles applied to polystyrene microspheres. Reason: low melting point caused thermal damage and melting rather than deep ablation
Large-scale multifunctional bio-inspired nanostructures and their process modeling enabled by optical emission spectroscopy · UT Austin · PhD
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Rejected below-bandgap femtosecond laser writing because multi-photon absorption delivered excessive instantaneous power that melted suspended nanostructures.
Formation, integration, and control of semiconductor spin-defects in electronic and photonic devices · Harvard · PhD
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Rejected using a constant 500 W laser power across all 10 layers for thin wall fabrication due to excessive heat accumulation and remelting of previous layers reducing deposition efficiency.
Investigation of wire-based laser directed energy deposition (DED) process for high-resolution submillimetre features · Cranfield · PhD
Tried and failed
laser cutting thin polymer adhesive sheets applied to microfluidic channel and electrode cavity patterning. Reason: low laser power caused incomplete cutting while high power or low speed caused thermal burnout
Design and Fabrication of Microfluidic Electrochemical Sensor for Lead Detection in Drinking Water · York University · Master's
Tried and failed
laser sintering at high power and speed applied to dispensed conductive silver paste traces. Reason: excessive thermal input charred and embrittled the conductive traces
Computational Fabrication and Assembly for In Situ Manufacturing · MIT · PhD
Tried and failed
laser ablation of conductive coatings applied to silicone elastomer membranes. Outcome: worse than baseline. Reason: laser thermal energy caused localized substrate surface stiffening, preventing recovery of original mechanical compliance
Multifunctional Dielectric Elastomer Actuator for in vitro Cell Mechanostimulation · EPFL · PhD
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Rejected printing 3D dielectric microstructures directly on top of metal vias/traces because direct laser absorption heats the metal and violently disrupts the print.
Novel entangling gates and scalable trap designs for trapped-ion quantum computing · University of Oregon · PhD
Tried and failed
CO2 laser cutting applied to thin silicone elastomer sheets. Reason: Photothermal ablation caused thermal buckling and edge charring, leading to channel misalignment and fluid leakage
A biocubesat compatible payload for future space systems: development of a second generation bammsat payload for stratospheric balloon flight · Cranfield · PhD
Tried and failed
Single-exposure high-intensity ultrafast laser photopolymerisation applied to 3D optical metamaterial microfabrication. Outcome: unstable. Reason: High laser intensities triggered avalanche photopolymerisation, causing uncontrolled bubbling, porosity, and loss of microscale features
Spatio-temporal light shaping for metamaterials · Imperial · PhD
Sub-threshold laser power and insufficient fluence lead to incomplete melting and lack of fusion
Operating lasers below critical power thresholds, with excessive scanning speeds, or with short exposure times fails to deliver the energy required for complete melting or curing. Consequently, parts suffer from lack-of-fusion porosity, unbonded powder layers, incomplete via drilling, and loose sintering.
Tried and failed
low power with reduced hatch spacing applied to laser powder bed fusion. Outcome: worse than baseline. Reason: Lack-of-fusion porosity at meltpool boundaries caused brittle cleavage despite achieving finer grain size
Digital Twins for Accelerated Qualification in Additive Manufacturing · Virginia Tech · Doctorate
Tried and failed
low repetition frequency laser processing applied to metal powder bed fusion. Reason: energy density threshold required for complete melting was not reached, causing only loose sintering
Multiple-material selective laser melting process development : advancements in the deposition and characterization of multiple-material interfaces · UT Austin · PhD
Tried and failed
selective laser melting with short exposure time applied to aluminum alloy additive manufacturing. Reason: insufficient energy input from large melt cross-section and short exposure time caused lack of fusion
Characterization of Heat Exchange for Additively Manufactured Components · York University · PhD
Tried and failed
laser ablation for microvia drilling applied to polymer dielectric build-up layers. Reason: insufficient laser energy prevented full dielectric ablation in small diameter via holes
Heterogeneous Integration for High-Speed mm-Wave Communication · Georgia Tech · PhD
Tried and failed
low pulse energy annular laser ablation applied to tissue microbiopsy harvesting. Reason: energy density below threshold failed to reliably eject intact tissue samples
Laser beam shaping for surgery and microbiopsy · UT Austin · PhD
Tried and failed
pulsed laser deposition at low pulse energy applied to oxide thin film deposition. Reason: insufficient laser fluence caused non-uniform island growth rather than continuous layer-by-layer film growth
Epitaxial Strain of Rare-Earth Nickelates on STO Using Pulsed Laser Deposition · UT Austin
Tried and failed
laser powder bed fusion at low power applied to refractory metals. Reason: laser power below threshold failed to achieve complete melting regardless of normalized enthalpy
Development of Materials for Extreme Environment Applications by Laser Powder Bed Fusion · MIT · PhD
Tried and failed
low-power laser thermal sintering applied to conductive silver paste traces. Reason: laser power was insufficient to reach the required curing temperature
Computational Fabrication and Assembly for In Situ Manufacturing · MIT · PhD
Tried and failed
High-speed laser sintering applied to conductive silver paste traces. Reason: Fast scan speeds limit thermal penetration depth, leaving subsurface material uncured regardless of applied power
Computational Fabrication and Assembly for In Situ Manufacturing · MIT · PhD
Tried and failed
selective laser melting at low power applied to thermoelectric powder sintering. Reason: laser power was insufficient to heat the melt pool above the required sintering temperature
Numerical Analysis of the Melt Pool Kinetics in Selective Laser Melting Based Additive Manufacturing of M g2Si Thermoelectric Powders · Virginia Tech · Master's
Laser processing exhibits lower throughput, slower removal rates, or inferior fidelity relative to baseline methods
Laser ablation and sintering often achieve significantly lower material removal rates and higher processing times than conventional mechanical drilling or milling. Furthermore, laser direct-write and liquid ablation strategies frequently demonstrate reduced etch efficiency, higher spatial variation, and worse resolution compared to baseline techniques.
Lost to a baseline
Parallel line laser sintering resulted in ~70% corner-to-center variation, performing worse than standard thermal sintering (17%) and IPL sintering (5.4%).
Inkjet-Printed Conductive Electrodes: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization · York University · PhD
Lost to a baseline
Biopsy time was lower (P<0.001) using a microblade compared to laser biopsy
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Laser ablation from metallic foil rejected due to material waste from subtractive processing and lower throughput compared to additive printing.
Biodegradable and printed chipless environmental sensors for sustainable Internet-of-Things applications · EPFL · PhD
Tried and failed
temporal pulse splitting with long intervals applied to laser ablation of hard mineral deposits. Outcome: worse than baseline. Reason: second-scale inter-pulse delays failed to replicate the thermal or cavitation advantages of microsecond pulse modulation
Laser beam shaping for surgery and microbiopsy · UT Austin · PhD
Lost to a baseline
Laser ablation bone removal rate of ca. 2.88 mm3/min was ~165x slower than conventional drilling (477 mm3/min) for equivalent volume removal, with significantly higher cumulative heat exposure
Bone: A study of machining-induced damage and the role of interstitial fluid · Nottingham · PhD
Lost to a baseline
At 44 MPa in RBC phantoms, 1 Hz PRF achieved higher ablation efficiency than 2500 Hz PRF ("complete ablation. in 540±28 pulses for 1 Hz PRF in comparison with 655±19 pulses at 2500 Hz").
High-Rate Histotripsy Methods for the Rapid Removal of Soft and Fibrous Tissue · Virginia Tech · Doctorate
Lost to a baseline
Visible meta-optics fabricated with laser direct-write (HiRes) exhibited lower resolution and patterned shell-like artifacts compared to electron beam lithography (JEOL JBX6300FS).
MEMS-integrated Alvarez Metalenses and Large-area Meta-optics · University of Washington · PhD
Ablative debris redeposition and recast accumulation degrade feature resolution and surface quality
Material vaporized or ejected during pulsed laser ablation frequently redeposits onto nearby features and optical setups. This redeposited material creates raised edge lips, recast accumulation within micro-grooves, excessive surface roughness, and contaminated via channels.
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Rejected complex multi-directional femtosecond laser raster patterns in favor of a simplified pattern to decrease ablated debris redeposition and wall taper.
Understanding Degradation Mechanisms of Metallic Alloys in High-Temperature Molten Salt Environments · Georgia Tech · PhD
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Rejected upright reflected light microscopy on the femtosecond laser setup in favor of an inverted design to reduce debris re-deposition during laser ablation.
Multifunctional Polymer Fiber Probes for Biomedical Application · Virginia Tech · Doctorate
Tried and failed
excimer laser ablation micromachining applied to fused silica cavity fabrication. Outcome: too slow. Reason: produced excessive surface roughness and required prohibitive sequential processing times for millimeter-scale cavity milling
The Development Of A Fingertip Implantable Mems Tactile Sensing System · Penn · PhD
Tried and failed
static micro-beam pulsed laser surface ablation applied to metal surface micro-structuring for hybrid joining. Outcome: worse than baseline. Reason: Low scan speeds and small beams caused recast accumulation, groove blockage, and internal voids.
Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Ultra High-Strength Joining in Steel-Short Fiber Reinforced Composites · Georgia Tech · PhD
Tried and failed
single-step laser ablation applied to substrate cavity micromachining for direct bonding. Reason: laser ablation created a raised redeposited edge lip that disrupted wafer direct bonding
The Development Of A Fingertip Implantable Mems Tactile Sensing System · Penn · PhD
Tried and failed
laser drilling apertures applied to stainless steel substrates. Outcome: worse than baseline. Reason: produced imprecise, damaged, and uneven crater-like edges compared to mechanical drilling
Coherent charge dynamics in molecules on the attosecond to few-femtosecond timescale · Imperial · PhD
Tried and failed
UV laser ablation of microvias applied to high-melting-point dielectric polymer films. Reason: High melting temperature caused irregular via shapes, excessive debris, and severe post-clean film thinning
Design and Demonstration of Mechanical and Electrical Reliability of 1-micron Redistribution Layers · Georgia Tech · PhD
Tried and failed
semi-additive processing with through-dielectric vias applied to ultra-low-k polymer interconnect redistribution layers. Reason: Laser debris, non-uniform electroplating, and seed-etch dielectric damage compromised via-containing conductor lines
Reliability Assessment and Demonstration of Ultra-low-k Dielectric Materials for Advanced Interposers · Georgia Tech · PhD
Thermal stresses and thermal expansion mismatches induce severe cracking and part distortion
Rapid heating and cooling cycles create large residual stresses and thermal expansion mismatches in laser powder bed fusion and micromachining. These localized stresses cause thin-walled features to warp, produce bulging hole profiles, and trigger substrate cracking or detachment during recoating.
Tried and failed
laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing applied to fine internal channels and thin-walled features. Reason: feature resolution limits caused internal channel blockage and thin-wall cracking during fabrication
ADDITIVELY MANUFACTURED INSTRUMENTATION FOR ENHANCED FLOWFIELD MEASUREMENT IN A TRANSONIC AXIAL COMPRESSOR · Naval Postgraduate School · Master's
Tried and failed
laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing applied to sub-millimeter thin wall fabrication. Reason: residual stress and thermal warpage caused recoater-part collisions below 500 µm feature sizes
Multi-Scale Materials Characterization and Analysis of In-Situ Process Monitoring Data towards enabling Multivariate Statistical Process Control in Laser Powder Bed Fusion Metal Ad · Georgia Tech · PhD
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Laser cutting and continuous welding were rejected in favor of EDM wire cutting and pulse-spot welding to minimize residual stress and edge material degradation.
Novel Permeance–Based Equivalent Circuit Model for Improved Performance Prediction of Traction Induction Motors in Electric Vehicles · University of Windsor · PhD
Tried and failed
laser milling thin microwave dielectric substrates applied to millimeter-wave reconfigurable patch antennas. Reason: Laser micromachining caused substrate cracking and degradation in thin laminates, degrading bandwidth and polarization performance
mm-Wave Reconfigurable Antenna Systems for 5G Applications · Georgia Tech · PhD
Tried and failed
high-power pulsed laser machining with spiral toolpath applied to chemical vapor deposition diamond drilling. Reason: excessive thermal stress and ablation induced bulging hole profiles and substrate cracking
Advances in Instrumentation for Dynamic Nuclear Polarization & Magic-Angle Spinning NMR · MIT · PhD
Tried and failed
laser powder bed fusion on dissimilar substrates applied to copper-steel dissimilar metal printing. Reason: thermal expansion coefficient mismatch caused severe thermal accumulation, substrate distortion, and interfacial cracking
Enhancing laser powder bed fusion processability of copper with nanocoated powder and in-situ monitoring · Imperial · PhD
Melt pool instabilities, plume interference, and keyholing disrupt additive deposition
Small laser spot sizes and aggressive energy inputs push additive melt pools past keyhole thresholds, causing metal vaporization, spatter, and severe undercutting. In addition, vapor plume interference, plasma bursts, and gas interactions lead to wandering laser beams, nozzle clogging, and unstable droplet transfer.
Tried and failed
reducing laser beam spot size with wire feed applied to laser additive manufacturing. Outcome: unstable. Reason: Excessive peak power density caused plume interference, wire deviation, and lack-of-fusion defects.
Investigation of wire-based laser directed energy deposition (DED) process for high-resolution submillimetre features · Cranfield · PhD
Tried and failed
focused laser beam for secondary melt pool reshaping applied to wire directed energy deposition. Outcome: unstable. Reason: small spot sizes exceeded keyhole threshold causing metal vaporisation, severe undercut, and spatter
Bead shape control using multi-energy source (mes) for wire-based directed energy deposition (ded) process. · Cranfield · Doctorate
Tried and failed
argon shielding gas in laser powder bed fusion applied to stainless steel additive manufacturing. Outcome: unstable. Reason: induced plasma bursts and laser beam wandering, causing chaotic transitions between keyhole and conduction melting regimes
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Operating at variable laser power settings, rejected to prevent fourth-parameter confounding, thermal lensing, mode instability, and plume debris optical contamination.
A Process-Development Framework for UV-Laser Through-Silicon Via Drilling in Semiconductor Packaging · Johns Hopkins · Master's
Considered and rejected
Considered and rejected: Rejected high-density parameter sets with low traverse rates and high laser powers due to excessive nozzle balling and clogging.
DIRECTED ENERGY DEPOSITION PROCESSING OF ALPHA-BETA, NEAR-ALPHA, AND BETA TITANIUM ALLOYS · Dalhousie · Master's
Left open by the authors
Problems the authors named and did not get to.
Left open
Mitigate microcracks and intermetallic disconnections in selective laser melted Finemet soft magnetic alloys. Blocker: Requires additive manufacturing lab equipment (selective laser melting machine) and material characterization tools.
Selective Laser Melting of Finemet Soft Magnetic Material · Virginia Tech · Master's
Left open
Determine whether small thermal shock cracks heal post-scanning during final densification sintering of 8-YSZ. Blocker: Requires a physical materials laboratory, sintering furnace, laser flash sintering apparatus, and characterization equipment (e.g., SEM).
Control of selective laser flash sintering of yttria-stabilized zirconia · UT Austin · PhD
Left open
Perform high cycle and low cycle fatigue testing and crack propagation analysis on 3D printed gradient 316L stainless steel specimens. Blocker: Requires selective laser melting 3D printing equipment and physical mechanical/fatigue testing apparatus
3-D Printing, Characterizing and Evaluating the Mechanical Properties of 316L Stainless Steel Materials with Gradient Microstructure · Virginia Tech · Master's
Left open
Optimize selective laser melting parameters and analyze substrate positioning to reduce density variation in Finemet alloy parts. Blocker: Requires a selective laser melting physical apparatus and Finemet alloy powder to perform experimental builds
Selective Laser Melting of Finemet Soft Magnetic Material · Virginia Tech · Master's
Left open
Apply selective laser sintering to directly process binderless low-temperature phase ceramics like boehmite to initiate phase transitions and particle necking. Blocker: Requires physical selective laser sintering (SLS) apparatus and ceramic powder materials (boehmite).
Indirect selective laser sintering of ceramics · UT Austin · PhD
Left open
Study elongated cell, melt pool, and grain formation during selective laser melting of 316L stainless steel. Blocker: Requires a selective laser melting 3D printer and microscopy/metallurgical characterization equipment.
3-D Printing, Characterizing and Evaluating the Mechanical Properties of 316L Stainless Steel Materials with Gradient Microstructure · Virginia Tech · Master's
Left open
Evaluate residual stress and texture of LPBF Fe-Si alloys (>6 wt% Si) using alternative scan strategies to achieve crack-free parts. Blocker: Requires a Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing machine, metal powders, and physical characterization equipment (e.g., XRD/EBSD).
Left open
Test additively manufactured SLM pool boiling surfaces with spherical re-entrant cavities across varying geometric parameters. Blocker: Requires selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing and experimental pool boiling testing apparatus
Characterization of Heat Exchange for Additively Manufactured Components · York University · PhD
Left open
Apply additive manufacturing microstructural control methods to Ti-based, CoCrMo, and Al alloys for tailored tribological properties. Blocker: Requires selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing equipment, specialized metal alloy powders, and characterization tools (SEM, EBSD).
Additive manufacturing: Towards alloys with spatially defined tribological properties · Imperial · PhD
Who has worked on this
Authors of the public theses cited on this page, most-cited first.
- Martin Eric William Nisser · MIT · PhD · 2024
Computational Fabrication and Assembly for In Situ Manufacturing - Aaron Mitchell Day · Harvard · PhD · 2025
Formation, integration, and control of semiconductor spin-defects in electronic and photonic devices - Xichen Wang · Cranfield · PhD · 2024
Investigation of wire-based laser directed energy deposition (DED) process for high-resolution submillimetre features - Haozheng Wang · Virginia Tech · Master's · 2023
Selective Laser Melting of Finemet Soft Magnetic Material - Ahmed Moustafa Sayed Elkholy · York University · PhD · 2021
Characterization of Heat Exchange for Additively Manufactured Components - Lin Du · Penn · PhD · 2021
The Development Of A Fingertip Implantable Mems Tactile Sensing System - Juanita Peche Stephen · Virginia Tech · Master's · 2021
3-D Printing, Characterizing and Evaluating the Mechanical Properties of 316L Stainless Steel Materials with Gradient Microstructure - Simon Holzer · EPFL · PhD · 2026
Multifunctional Dielectric Elastomer Actuator for in vitro Cell Mechanostimulation - Kaustubh Vilas Deshmukh · Virginia Tech · Doctorate · 2026
Digital Twins for Accelerated Qualification in Additive Manufacturing - Tathansh Ashish Joshi · Johns Hopkins · Master's · 2026
A Process-Development Framework for UV-Laser Through-Silicon Via Drilling in Semiconductor Packaging - Sungjin Hong · Georgia Tech · PhD · 2025
Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Ultra High-Strength Joining in Steel-Short Fiber Reinforced Composites - Kaka Cheng · Imperial · PhD · 2025
Enhancing laser powder bed fusion processability of copper with nanocoated powder and in-situ monitoring
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