Parallel femtosecond laser ablation with individually controlled intensity

Abstract

The use of computer generated holograms together with spatial light modulator (SLM) enable highly parallel laser micromachining. Usually SLM is used for splitting the original laser beam to desired number of beams with equal intensity. However, this technique also enables that the intensity of every beam can be controlled individually. Example of the hologram designing procedure for separation of the original beam to 400 beams with individually controlled intensity is presented. The proposed technique is demonstrated by femtosecond laser ablation of grayscale pictures so that grey scale of the pixel is addressed with corresponding beam intensity in the ablated picture.