Welding in the World

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-024-01734-4

RESEARCH PAPER

Spatter reduction in deep penetration welding of pure copper using

blue‑IR hybrid laser
Shumpei Fujio1 · Yuji Sato2 · Mao Sudo1 · Keisuke Takenaka2 · Koji Tojo3 · Timotius Pasang4 · Masahiro Tsukamoto2

Received: 25 September 2023 / Accepted: 16 February 2024

© The Author(s) 2024

Abstract
Bead-on-plate welding of pure copper with a blue-IR hybrid laser was conducted to achieve a spatter suppression in deep
penetration welding of pure copper for the performance improvement of battery and power device of e-mobility. This hybrid
laser combines an infrared (IR) laser and a blue diode laser as the welding source and preheating source, respectively. Preheat-
ing increases the light absorptivity of pure copper in the IR region. A 1.5-kW blue diode laser was employed to increase the
light absorptivity by changing the phase of the preheated area from solid phase to liquid and gas phase. By experimentally
investigating the influence of the blue diode laser intensity, the phase effects of the preheated area on pure copper welding
with a blue-IR hybrid laser are elucidated. As a result, it was found that a liquid preheated area minimizes spatter during
deep penetration welding.

Keywords Laser welding · Blue diode laser · Fiber laser · Copper

1 Introduction welding of pure copper as they can be focused onto a tiny

Pure copper exhibits properties necessary to realize effective
energy utilization and carbon neutrality such as high thermal
and electric conductivities. Consequently, the global demand
for pure copper and the need for high-quality welding of
pure copper have increased [1].
Various methods are used to industrially weld pure cop-
per. These include tungsten inert gas (TIG) arc welding [2],
resistance spot welding [3], and laser welding [4]. Lasers are
attracting attention as a heat source to achieve high-quality
Recommended for publication by Commission IV—Power Beam
Processes.
* Shumpei Fujio
fujio.shumpei.awx@ecs.osaka-u.ac.jp
1
Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2‑1
Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 567‑0871, Japan
2
Joining and Welding Research Institute, Osaka University,
11‑1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki 567‑0047, Japan
3
Shimadzu Corporation, 3‑9‑4, Hikaridai, Seikacho,
Soraku‑Gun, Kyoto 619‑0237, Japan
4
Department of Engineering Design, Manufacturing
and Management System, Western Michigan University,
Kalamazoo, MI 49008‑5200, USA
spot and can realize a high-power density. Moreover, they
have a high controllability. Due to these advantages, lasers
can achieve deep penetration, low heat input, and high-speed
welding.
Laser welding can be divided into two modes according to
the laser intensity: the heat conduction mode and the keyhole
mode. With the low laser intensity, heat conduction mode
appears. In the heat conduction mode, laser is absorbed
on the top surface of a material and converted into heat.
Then, the heat is transferred by heat conduction, melting the
material (i.e., forming a molten pool). The heat conduction
mode has shallow penetration with a low aspect ratio [5]. In
contrast, as the laser intensity increases, vaporization of the
material occurs, resulting in a keyhole mode. In the keyhole
mode, part of the molten pool is forced down because of the
recoil pressure of vaporization and an indentation, called a
keyhole, is formed. The incident laser is absorbed through
multiple reflections inside the keyhole. The keyhole mode
can achieve a deep penetration with a high aspect ratio [5].
Conventionally, an infrared (IR) laser with a wavelength
around 1000 nm is used to weld steel, titanium, and nickel
due to its high power and high beam quality [6–8]. How-
ever, welding pure copper with an IR laser is challenging.
Because the light absorptivity of pure copper is low in the
IR region [9], it rarely melts when using a low-intensity

Vol.:(0123456789)

IR laser. A high-intensity IR laser is also problematic for
deep penetration due to the temperature dependence of
light absorptivity of pure copper in the IR region. The
absorptivity gradually increases with temperature, but a
jump occurs near the phase transition from a solid to a liq-
uid [10]. This effect induces a sudden increase in the heat
input, which leads to sudden evaporation of the molten
pool while welding with a high-intensity IR laser. Conse-
quently, the molten pool and keyhole become unstable in
keyhole mode welding with a high-intensity IR laser. This
generates spatters, which reduces the strength of the weld-
ing part and damages areas surrounding the welding part.
Blue diode lasers are attracting attention as a solution
to these issues. Blue diode lasers have a wavelength of
450 nm, and pure copper has a high light absorptivity for
this wavelength [9]. Morimoto et al. reported that the light
absorptivity of pure copper shows a small temperature
dependence for blue lasers compared to that for the IR
region [11]. Due to these advantages, some researchers
have reported the effectiveness of blue diode lasers for
copper processing and clarified that a highly efficient heat
input can be conducted for pure copper [12–14]. However,
the output power and beam quality of current blue diode
lasers are inferior to those of IR lasers such as a fiber or
disk laser.
A blue-IR hybrid laser was developed to realize high-
quality laser welding of pure copper. This hybrid laser com-
bines a single-mode fiber laser with a blue diode laser. The
blue diode laser serves as a preheating source to increase the
light absorptivity of pure copper for the IR laser. Previously,
this blue-IR system with a 200-W class blue diode laser pre-
heating was used to weld pure copper. Although blue diode
laser preheating increased the penetration depth of pure
copper, spatters remained in deep penetration welding [15].
Fig. 1  Schematic of the experi-
mental setup
Welding in the World
The temperature of the preheating area was around 1000 K,
which is below the melting point of copper [16].
To suppress spatters in deep penetration welding, we
considered that the absorptivity of pure copper must be
further increased. Therefore, we used a 1.5-kW class blue
diode laser as a preheating source. This allowed melting
or vaporization of preheated copper as the preheated area
undergoes a phase transition. If the phase of the preheated
area changes to a liquid or gas phase, the light absorptivity
in the IR region should be higher than that in the solid phase
[10]. This should inhibit the jump in the light absorptivity
that accompanies the phase change from solid to liquid when
welding with an IR laser, which is one source of spatter gen-
eration. Therefore, using a 1.5-kW class blue diode laser for
preheating should suppress spatters.
Herein, bead-on-plate welding was conducted with a
blue-IR hybrid laser using a 1.5-kW class blue diode laser
preheating to realize spatter suppression in deep penetra-
tion welding of pure copper. The effect of the phase of the
preheated area while welding pure copper with a blue-IR
hybrid laser was experimentally investigated. Specifically,
the phase of the preheated area was changed by varying
the intensity of the blue diode laser. Then, the molten pool
behavior and spatters were observed during welding. Addi-
tionally, a cross-sectional image of the bead was analyzed
after welding.
2 Experimental setup
Figure 1 schematically depicts the experimental setup. A 1.5-
kW single-mode fiber laser (Furukawa Electric) was used
as a welding source, and a 1.5-kW blue diode laser (Shi-
madzu) was used as a preheating source. The specifications
Welding in the World

of this blue diode laser are reported in the literature [17].
The single-mode fiber laser was collimated by an f50-mm
plano-convex lens, focused by an f150-mm plano-convex
lens, and irradiated vertically onto a sample. Additionally,
the blue diode laser was collimated by an f100-mm achro-
matic lens and focused by an f75-mm achromatic lens. The
blue diode laser was irradiated onto the sample at an incident
angle of 45°.
Table 1 shows the experimental conditions. In the exper-
iments, each laser was focused on the top surface of the
sample at the focal point. The spot size was set at x, 55 µm
and y, 54 µm, for the single-mode fiber laser and x, 424 µm
and y, 300 µm, for the blue diode laser. Each laser spot was
centered and combined at the processing point. The inten-
sity of the single-mode fiber laser was set at 0 or 42.1 MW/
cm2, while that of the blue diode laser was varied from 0 to
1.14 MW/cm2. Both lasers were irradiated simultaneously
by a pulse generator (DG535, Stanford Research Systems).
Figure 2 schematically shows the bead-on-plate weld-
ing test of a pure copper plate. While irradiating, the laser
spots were scanned for 25 mm on a 2-mm-thick pure copper
sample by a linear stage at a scanning speed of 100 mm/s.
High-speed video camera 1 (Q1v, NAC) at an angle of 45°
from the horizontal observed a molten pool during laser
irradiation. To observe the molten pool, laser light entering
high-speed video camera 1 was cut by equipping it with a
long-pass filter at a 560-nm wavelength and a short-pass
filter at a 900-nm wavelength. High-speed video camera 2
(HX-3, NAC) from a direction perpendicular to the laser
scanning direction observed the spatters. Spatters generated
during welding were counted one by one from the captured
image. The spatter rate was determined by dividing the total
number of spatters generated while welding by the laser
scanning length. Table 2 lists the observation conditions of
each camera. To analyze the spatter generation behavior in
more detail, the mass of the pure copper sample was meas-
ured before and after laser welding to evaluate the mass loss.
The intensity of the blue diode laser was varied during
the welding test. In the preliminary experiment, pure copper
was irradiated with only a blue diode laser to identify the
intensity of the blue diode laser that induces a phase transi-
tion in the preheated area. In the subsequent experiment, a
single-mode fiber laser was combined with a blue diode laser
to conduct blue-IR hybrid laser welding. Afterwards, the
sample was cut, polished, and etched with 10% hydrochloric
acid and iron(III) chloride. Then, the cross-section of the
bead was observed with an optical microscope (VHX-5000,
KEYENCE).
After the bead-on-plate welding test, lap welding of two
1-mm-thick pure copper plates was demonstrated with the
blue-IR hybrid laser. Figure 3 depicts the lap welded sam-
ple. The pure copper plate measured 30 m ­ mw × 100 ­mml × 1
t
­mm . The laser was scanned on the center of lapped part for
25 mm at 100 mm/s. The intensity of the single-mode fiber
laser was set at 50.5 MW/cm2, while the intensity of the
blue diode laser was varied. Three samples were prepared
for each condition.
Next, the ultimate shear strength (USS) was determined.
First, the joined samples were cut into 15 m­ mw × 60 ­mml × 1
­mmt pieces. Second, USS was measured using a universal

Table 1  Experimental conditions

Blue diode laser Single-mode fiber laser
Fig. 2  Schematic of the bead-on-plate welding test
Wavelength 450 nm 1070 nm
Output power 0 ~ 1140 W 0, 1000 W
Table 2  Observation conditions of the high-speed video cameras
Spot size x, 424 µm x, 55 µm
y, 300 µm y, 56 µm Spatter observation Molten pool observation
Intensity 0 ~ 1.14 MW/cm2 0, 42.1 MW/cm2
Camera Q1v HX-3
Incident angle 45° 0°
Frame rate 10,000 fps 5000 fps
Scanning speed 100 mm/s
Shutter speed 500 k 50 k
Scanning length 25 mm
Observation angle 0° 45°
Sample Oxygen-free copper (> 99.96%)
Filter Short-pass filter Short-pass filter
Sample size 10 ­mmw × 30 ­mml × 2 ­mmt
(900 nm) (900 nm)
Shielding gas Ar Long-pass filter Long-pass filter
Gas flow rate 40 L/min (530 nm) (560 nm)

Fig. 3  Schematic of the lap joined pure copper sample
tensile testing machine (Model 1185, Instron) at a speed of
0.083 mm/s. Third, an optical microscope evaluated the frac-
ture surface. Finally, the measured shear strength in N was
divided by the fracture surface area to give the USS in MPa.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Pure copper welding with a blue diode laser
To assess the impact of the blue diode laser intensity on the
phase transition in the preheated area, a bead-on-plate weld-
ing test was conducted using pure copper and a blue diode
laser. Figure 4 shows the results for different laser intensities
and times. Pure copper did not melt when irradiating with a
blue diode laser at (a) 0.21 MW/cm2 or (b) 0.42 MW/cm2.
Under these conditions, preheating was within the solid tem-
perature range of copper. In contrast, a blue diode laser at
(c) 0.64 MW/cm2 or (d) 0.85 MW/cm2 melted pure copper,
forming a molten pool in the heat conduction mode.
Irradiating with a blue diode laser at (e) 1.06 MW/cm2 or
(f) 1.14 MW/cm2, a keyhole was formed, and intermittent
plume ejections were observed at 0.04 s and 0.07 s with the
1.14-MW/cm2 blue diode laser. Due to keyhole formation,
the preheated area was in the gas phase. It should be noted
that spatter was not observed while welding with only the
blue diode laser within the range of the present experimental
conditions. Hence, varying the blue diode laser intensity can
change the phase of blue diode laser irradiation spot to solid,
liquid, or gas without spatter.
3.2 Pure copper welding with a blue‑IR hybrid laser
3.2.1 Cross‑section evaluation
A single-mode fiber laser was combined with each inten-
sity of the blue diode laser that realized a phase transi-
tion in the preheated area. Then, bead-on-plate welding of
Welding in the World
pure copper was conducted with the blue-IR hybrid laser.
The penetration depth and the molten area were measured
after laser irradiation. Figure 5 shows the cross-sectional
image of the bead after irradiation of (a) 42.1-MW/
cm2 single-mode fiber laser only and (b) 42.1-MW/cm2
single-mode fiber laser with 1.14-MW/cm 2 blue diode
laser. All conditions yielded narrow and sharp wine-cup
shape beads, which are characteristic of deep penetration
welding.
Figure 6 shows the penetration depth of pure copper as
a function of the blue diode laser intensity. The penetration
depth increased as the blue diode laser intensity increased.
Figure 7 shows the correlation between the molten area of
pure copper and the blue diode laser intensity. The circles
and triangles represent the results using the blue-IR hybrid
laser and blue diode laser only, respectively.
Both the hybrid and blue diode lasers produced a larger
molten area as the blue diode laser intensity increased. For
a given intensity, the hybrid laser formed a larger molten
area than the blue diode laser alone. Therefore, more than
95% of the molten area generated by the hybrid laser is
attributed to the heat input by the single-mode fiber laser.
The melting efficiency 𝜂 was obtained from the acquired
molten area. 𝜂 is defined as
vSblue+IR
𝜂= (1)
PIR + Pblue
where v , PIR , and Pblue are the laser scanning speed, output
power of the single-mode fiber laser, and output power of
the blue diode laser, respectively. SIR+blue is the molten area
of the hybrid laser.
Figure 8 shows the results of 𝜂 for each blue diode laser
intensity. 𝜂 increased with the blue diode laser intensity.
Each 𝜂 was classified according to the phase of the pre-
heated area based on initial bead-on-plate welding test
with a blue diode laser. When the preheated area was in
the solid phase (blue diode laser intensity, 0 ~ 0.43 MW/
cm2), the average 𝜂 was 0.015 ­mm3/J, but when in the liq-
uid phase (blue diode laser intensity, 0.64 ~ 0.85 MW/cm2)
and gas phase (1.06 ~ 1.14 MW/cm2), the average value of
𝜂 increased to about 0.021 ­mm3/J and 0.027 ­mm3/J, respec-
tively. This effect is attributed to the increased absorptivity
of pure copper for the IR laser due to the phase transition
of the preheated area.
When the phase of preheated area changes from solid to
liquid, the absorptivity of pure copper for IR laser jumps
[10]. When the preheated area was in the gas phase, a
keyhole formed on the molten pool. Consequently, the
incident light was absorbed by multiple reflections inside
the keyhole, further enhancing the absorptivity [18].
Therefore, 𝜂 increased as the phase of the preheated area
changed from a solid to a liquid and then a gas.
Welding in the World
Fig. 4  Time elapses of the blue diode laser irradiation spot with the intensity of a 0.21 MW/cm2, b 0.42 MW/cm2, c 0.64 MW/cm2, d 0.85 MW/
cm2, e 1.06 MW/cm2, and f 1.14 × ­106 W/cm.2
3.2.2 Melting and solidification dynamics of pure copper
While welding with blue-IR hybrid laser, spatters were
observed from the horizontal direction by the high-speed
video camera. Figure 9 shows the spatter rate and the mass
loss of sample for different blue diode laser intensities.
The spatter rate decreased as the blue diode laser intensity
increased from 0 to 0.85 MW/cm2. Once the laser intensity
reached 0.85 MW/cm2, the phase of the preheated area is a
liquid, the spatter rate decreased about 90% compared to that
of 0 MW/cm2. However, an increased spatter rate accompa-
nied the phase transition of the preheated area from a liquid
to a gas. The mass loss trend was consistent with that of the
spatter rate.
 Welding in the World

Fig. 5  Cross-sectional image of

the bead after irradiation with
a 42.1-MW/cm2 single-mode
fiber laser only and (b) 42.1-
MW/cm2 single-mode fiber
laser and 1.14-MW/cm2 blue
diode laser

Fig. 8  Melting efficiency 𝜂 for different blue diode laser intensities

Fig. 6  Correlation between the penetration depth of pure copper and

blue diode laser intensity

Fig. 9  Spatter rate and mass loss for different blue diode laser intensi-
ties while blue-IR hybrid laser welding of pure copper

Figure 10 shows the melting and solidification dynam-

Fig. 7  Correlation between the molten area of the cross-section and ics of pure copper while welding with the blue-IR hybrid
blue diode laser intensity
laser at a blue diode laser intensity of (a) 0 MW/cm2 (i.e.,
Welding in the World
Fig. 10  Melting and solidification dynamics of pure copper weld-
ing at a scanning speed of 100 mm/s with a blue-IR hybrid laser and
parameters of 42.1 MW/cm2 for the single-mode fiber laser and a
the single-mode fiber laser only), (b) 0.21 MW/cm2, (c)
0.85 MW/cm2, and (d) 1.14 MW/cm2. It should be noted that
these values coincide with a phase change of the preheated
area when welding with a blue diode laser only. When the
single-mode fiber laser was irradiated onto the pure copper
with (a) 0-MW/cm2 and (b) 0.21-MW/cm2 blue diode laser,
the preheated area was in the solid phase and spatters along
with the ejection of the molten pool were observed. Using
(c) 0.85-MW/cm2 blue diode laser, the preheated area was
liquid. An ejection of molten pool was not occurred, and
only a few spatters were observed. Using (d) 1.14-MW/cm2
blue diode laser, the preheated area was in the gas phase,
and the fluctuations of the molten pool surface increased.
In addition, the keyhole aperture repeatedly expanded and
contracted. Not only was spatter generation observed but a
plume also formed intermittently while welding.
From the captured images, the width of the keyhole aper-
ture (Wka) parallel to the laser scanning direction was meas-
ured at different times. The fluctuation rate of Wka (FR) was
obtained to evaluate the fluctuation of the keyhole aperture
for a given blue diode laser intensity. FR is defined as
0 MW/cm2, b 0.21 MW/cm2, c 0.85 MW/cm2, and d 1.14 MW/cm2
for the blue diode laser
1 ∑8 || Wka,q − Wave ||
FR = | | × 100 (2)
8 q=1 || Wave |
|
Wave is the average value of Wka from 0.01 to 0.08 s.
Wka,1, Wka,2 , …, and Wka,8 mean Wka at 0.01 s, 0.02 s, …,
and 0.08 s, respectively. Figure 11 shows FR for different
blue diode laser intensities along with the phase of the
preheated area. As the blue diode laser intensity increased,
FR decreased in the region from 0 to 0.85 MW/cm2 but
increased from 0.85 to 1.14 MW/cm2. The average value of
FR for each phase of the preheated area was 23.2%, 9.2%,
and 19.8% for the solid, liquid, and gas phase, respectively.
Hence, FR decreased when the preheated area was a liquid.
However, FR increased when the keyhole was formed and
the preheated area was in the gas phase.
The trends of the spatter rate and FR for each phase of
the preheated area were consistent. Next, we considered
the variation mechanism of FR and spatter generation with
respect to the phase transition of the preheated area.

Fig. 11  Fluctuation rate of Wka within the time variation from 0.01 to
0.08 s for each blue diode laser intensity during blue-IR hybrid laser
welding of pure copper
Both FR and the spatter rate decreased when the pre-
heated area transitioned from a solid to a liquid. This is
due to the increased light absorptivity of pure copper for
the single-mode fiber laser. Previously, bulging of keyhole
Fig. 12  Schematics of the keyhole dynamics while welding pure copper with a blue-IR hybrid laser when the preheated area is (a) solid, (b) liq-
uid, and (c) gas
Welding in the World
was identified as the origin of the keyhole aperture fluc-
tuation [19]. Additionally, Miyagi et al. reported that the
sudden vaporization of the material inside the keyhole is
responsible for bulging [20]. Here, we considered that the
sudden vaporization of the material is caused by the rapid
increase of the heat input into the material from the laser
beam. It is caused by the jump in the light absorptivity of
pure copper in the IR region accompanies the phase transi-
tion from solid to liquid while welding.
Figure 12 shows a schematic diagram of the keyhole
dynamics during pure copper welding with a blue-IR
hybrid laser. Figure 12(a-1) to (a-4) depicts the keyhole
dynamics with a low-intensity blue diode laser preheating.
With a low-intensity blue diode laser of 0 or 0.21 MW/
cm2, the phase of the preheated area remains a solid (a-1).
If the single-mode fiber laser is irradiated onto the solid
preheated area, a jump of absorptivity occurs as the phase
transitions from a solid to a liquid (a-2), leading to a sud-
den heat input to the material and keyhole bulging. Key-
hole bulging pushes the molten pool upward, inducing
spatter and ejection of the molten pool with the expansion
of keyhole aperture (a-3). After molten pool ejection, the
Welding in the World

previous keyhole remains as a void and a new keyhole is

created with a small keyhole aperture (a-4).
In contrast, the phase of the preheated area is in the liquid
phase with 0.64- or 0.85-MW/cm2 blue diode laser preheat-
ing (b-1). If a single-mode fiber laser is irradiated onto the
preheated area, which is already a liquid, then the jump in
the light absorptivity while welding is avoided (b-2). This
should reduce the sudden increase in the heat input and
consequently prevent keyhole bulging, resulting in stable
welding (b-3).
Both FR and the spatter rate increased when accompanied
by a phase transition of the preheated area from a liquid to a
gas. One reason is intermittent plume generation while weld-
ing, as seen in Fig. 10d. Figure 12(c-1) to (c-4) schematically
diagram the keyhole dynamics when the preheated area is in
the gas phase. A high-intensity blue diode laser forms a key-
hole, and the preheated area transforms into the gas phase.
When a keyhole is formed, a plume is ejected intermittently
from the keyhole aperture (c-1). Because this plume inter-
acts with the laser based on absorption and scattering [21],
the incident laser energy for preheating fluctuates with the
generation of plume (c-2). Due to this effect, the keyhole
aperture becomes unstable as it repeatedly contracts (c-3)
and expands (c-4). The velocity of metal vapor from the
keyhole fluctuates when the keyhole aperture fluctuates,
causing an unstable molten metal flow around the keyhole
[22]. Therefore, the instability of the keyhole aperture is
responsible for the unstable molten pool behavior and leads
to spatters.
3.3 Pure copper lap welding
To investigate the phase effect of the preheated area on the
actual joining process of copper, pure copper plates were
lap welded with the blue-IR hybrid laser. Then, tensile test-
ing was performed on a lap welded sample measuring 15
­mmw × 60 ­mml × 1 ­mmt. Figure 13 shows USS of the sam-
ples lap welded at different blue diode laser intensities. Laser
intensities of 0, 0.75, and 1.34 MW/cm2 correspond to the
phase transition from solid to liquid and gas, respectively.
USS of the lap welded sample increased as the blue diode
laser intensity increased.
4 Conclusions
A bead-on-plate welding test of pure copper was con-
ducted with a blue-IR hybrid laser, which combined a
single-mode fiber laser for welding with a blue diode
laser for preheating. A high-power blue diode laser was
used to increase the light absorptivity of pure copper in
the IR region by modifying the phase of the preheated
area. The effects of the phase of the preheated area on
Fig. 13  Ultimate shear strength of the lap welded pure copper sample
as a function of the blue diode laser intensity
the penetration depth, molten area, and welding dynamics
were examined. As the blue diode laser intensity increased,
both the penetration depth and molten area of pure copper
increased. The melting efficiency 𝜂 also increased with the
phase transition of the preheated area from solid, liquid to
gas, indicating that the light absorptivity of pure copper
for the IR laser increased with the phase transition at the
preheated area.
The spatter rate and FR decreased when the phase of the
preheated area transitioned from a solid to a liquid. This is
attributed to the reduced bulging inside the keyhole and is
associated with increased light absorptivity of pure copper
for the IR laser accompanying the phase transition from a
solid to a liquid. On the contrary, the spatter rate and FR
increased as the phase of the preheated area went from
liquid to gas due to the fluctuations of the keyhole aper-
ture and molten pool driven by the occurrence of plume.
Hence, the phase of the preheated area is a critical factor
of the welding phenomenon of pure copper with blue-IR
hybrid laser. From the result, it is assumed that deep pen-
etration welding of pure copper with low spatter can be
achieved when the preheated area is in the liquid phase.
Acknowledgements We thank NICHIA Co. for development of the
1.5-kW blue diode laser and Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., for offering
the single-mode fiber laser.
Funding Open Access funding provided by Osaka University. This
work was partly supported by the New Energy and Industrial Tech-
nology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan and JSPS KAK-
ENHI (Grant Number JP 23KJ1494). In addition, the OU Master Plan
Implementation Project promoted under Osaka University financially
supported this research.

Declarations
Conflict of interest The authors declare no competing interests.
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