Transparent material processing with an ultrashort pulse laser

Abstract

A method for scribing transparent materials uses ultrashort laser pulses to create multiple scribe features with a single pass of the laser beam across the material, with at least one of the scribe features being formed below the surface of the material. This enables clean breaking of transparent materials at a higher speed than conventional techniques.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of scribing a transparent material, comprising: using a single scan of a focused beam of ultrashort laser pulses to simultaneously create a surface groove in said material and at least one modified region within the bulk of said material. 
     
     
         2 . A method for scribing a transparent material comprising using a single scan of a focused beam of ultrashort laser pulses to simultaneously create a plurality of modification regions within the bulk of said material in its depth direction. 
     
     
         3 . A transparent material scribed at two or more locations in a depth direction thereof by a single scan of a focused beam of ultrashort laser pulses. 
     
     
         4 . The transparent material according to  claim 3 , wherein said two or more locations include a surface of said material having a groove formed therein. 
     
     
         5 . A system for scribing a transparent material, comprising: an ultrashort laser source to generate a beam of ultrashort pulses; an optical system to focus and deliver said beam of ultrashort pulses to said material with optical intensity sufficiently high so as to produce non-linear absorption within said material and to modify said material so as to produce scribe features; and a motion system operatively connected to said ultrashort source and said optical system. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 5 , wherein said scribe features are formed with spatially overlapping ultrashort pulses.