High-rate laser processing with ultrashort laser pulses by combination of diffractive elements with synchronized galvo scanning

Abstract

The combination of diffractive optical elements or spatial light modulators with fully synchronized galvo scanners offers a possibility to scale up machining processes with ultra-short pulses to several 100 W of average power with minimal thermal impact. This will be demonstrated with the high-rate applications multi-pulse drilling on the fly and material removal with special intensity distributions up to an average power of 162 W and a removal rate of 16.5 mm3/min. Based on the experimental results strategies to achieve drilling rates of several 10,000 holes/s or removal rates of multiple 10 mm3/min will be discussed.