Customized non-diffracting beams for advanced transparent materials processing

Abstract

We report on the design and realization of novel non-diffracting beams for ultrashort laser materials processing. Our method is axicon based and introduces subtle azimuthal modifications to the conical lenses or well-defined misalignments to achieve a set of novel non-diffracting beams. These focus distributions retain all well-known advantages of non-diffracting beams, such as self-healing, high optical efficiency, or possible extreme aspect ratios. Additionally, tailored transverse intensity profiles with, for example, well-defined preferential direction can be generated. Clear advantages for controlling residual stress and crack orientation in glass processing are discussed and results of different micro-machining experiments are presented.