Software Surface Tracking of Curved Surfaces to Facilitate Laser Nano-Ablation

We present a novel system that enables ablation on arbitrary curved surfaces by scanning and mapping the surface to a 3D model, which is used to guide the ablation process. This system enables accurate surface tracking to ±5-micrometers after a 3–4-minute scan of a 10x10 millimeter (about 0.39 in) area. Our solution is also scalable up to several meters, enabling high accuracy ablation over large topographical surfaces.