Laser Pulse Shaping For Additive Manufacturing

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for additively manufacturing a product in a layer-by-layer sequence, wherein the product is formed using powder particles deposited on an interface layer of a substrate. A laser generates first and second beam components, where the second beam component has a substantially higher power level and a substantially shorter duration than the first beam component. A mask is used to create a 2D optical pattern in which only select portions of the first and second beam components are allowed to irradiate the powdered particles. The first beam component heats the powder particles at least to substantially a melting point, at which point the particles begin to experience surface tension forces relative to the interface layer. While the particles are heated, the second beam component further heats the particles and also melts the interface layer of the substrate before the surface tension forces can act on and distort the particles, and such that the particles and the interface layer are able to bond together.