Dynamic correction of optical aberrations for height-independent selective laser induced etching processing strategies.

Optical aberrations are a critical issue for tight focusing and high precision manufacturing with ultrashort pulsed laser radiation in transparent media. Controlling the wave front of ultrashort laser pulses enable the correction of low order phase front distortion and significantly enhances the simplification of laser-based manufacturing of 3D-parts in glass. The influence of system-inherent, dominating aberrations such as spherical and astigmatic aberrations affect the focal area, the beam caustic and therefore the focus intensity distribution. We correct these aberrations by means of a spatial light modulator (SLM) for various processing depths in glass thickness of up to 12 mm. This flexible aberration correction significantly simplifies the process control and scanning strategies for the selective laser induced etching process. The influence on the selectivity is investigated by comparing the three different focus conditions of the intrinsic microscope objective aberration corrected, the aberrated and the SLM aberration corrected beam profile. The previously necessary pulse energy adjustment for different z positions in the glass volume is compensated via SLM aberration correction in the end. Furthermore, the spatial extend of the modified and etched area is investigated. In consequence, a simplified scan strategy and depth-independent processing parameters can be achieved for the selective laser induced etching process.

Transverse pump-probe microscopy of moving breakdown, filamentation and self-organized absorption in alkali aluminosilicate glass using ultrashort pulse laser.

We present time and space resolved transverse pump-probe measurements of the free electron and defect generation induced by nonlinear absorption of ultra short pulsed laser radiation in unhardened Corning Gorilla glass. The applied setup exhibits a 100 fs probe pulse duration and an independent pump pulse duration up to 5 ps. Hence, our work comprises the absorption of ultra short pulsed laser radiation at a wavelength of 800 nm and pulse energies from 10 µJ to 50 µJ up to a delay of 6 ns. Our investigations reveal different absorption regimes like filamentation and moving breakdown as well as the formation of permanent modifications. Finally, the deposition of multiple pulses in the incubation regime is examined, observing a self-organizing absorption effect.