Femtosecond laser processing and spatial light modulator

The use of the femtosecond laser enables generation of small spot sizes and ablation features. Ablation of the small features usually requires only a small amount of laser power to be delivered to the ablation spot. When using only a one beam for the ablation of the small features this process is bound to be time consuming. The spatial light modulator (SLM) together with the computer generated holograms (CGH) can be used for manipulating and shaping of the laser beam in various applications. In laser micromachining, when using laser with relatively high power, the original beam can be divided up to hundreds beams and still have the energy of the individual beam above the ablation threshold of the material. This parallel laser processing enables more efficient use of the laser power regardless of the machining task.