Laser materials processing of optical materials and characterization

Mask projection ablation of substrates result in surface microstructures such as diffractive optical elements and smart passive windows. Sapphire, diamond and other very hard and brittle materials can be machined with lasers. Results from femtosecond to microsecond laser processing including water jet coupled laser processing will be presented and discussed. News about laser welding of titanium by optical emission spectroscopy and high speed optical camera observations reveal a surprising difference in weld quality due to a difference of only some nanometers in wavelength from Near Infrared Laser sources.