Femtosecond Laser Materials Processing

Abstract

Femtosecond lasers enable materials processing of most any material with extremely high precision and negligible shock or thermal loading to the surrounding area. Applications ranging from drilling teeth to cutting explosives to precision cuts in composites are possible by using this technology. For material removal at reasonable rates, we have developed a fully computer-controlled 15-Watt average power, 100-fs laser machining system.