Description

As ultrafast laser systems have become more suitable to industrial use through higher average power and more reliable operation, the use of nonlinear optics in processing of transparent materials has increased.  The fundamental processes occurring in high intensity laser interactions with transparent materials are generally agreed upon but rarely investigated in detail.  We have developed a pump-probe system for time-resolved imaging of laser processing to gain a better understanding of these fundamental cascaded processes. We will present some recent innovations in pump-probe imaging for in-situ observation of ultrafast laser-matter interaction.  New results from this system advance our understanding of the differences in laser-matter interaction when using a rapid burst of laser pulses versus a single lasers pulse of comparable energy.   One line of work includes observing crack growth due to a rapid burst of laser pulses in the material.  Direct shadow graphic and polarization-dependent imaging provides macroscopic structural and stress dynamics over picosecond to nanosecond timescales.  Time-resolved imaging of luminescent emissions from the processing site suggest microscopic changes to the chemical bonding environment.  In addition to imaging, we have leveraged a theoretical model of the evolution of beam intensity and energy absorption inside transparent substrates using nonlinear beam propagation methods which provides additional insight into these fundamental processes and accelerates development of laser processing applications.  Experimental data and simulations suggest several mechanisms by which a short burst of pulses can be more effective than a single pulse at laser processing of brittle transparent materials.

Contributing Authors

  • Matthew R Ross
    Corning Research & Development
  • Craig Ungaro
    Corning Research & Development
Matthew R Ross
Corning Research & Development
Track: Laser Materials Microprocessing
Session: Micro Session I
Day of Week: Monday
Date/Time:
Location:

Keywords

  • Fundamental Interactions
  • Laser Processing
  • Light Matter Interactions
  • Ultrafast Laser