Method of laser cutting glass using non-diffracting laser beams
Embodiments are directed to systems for laser cutting at least one glass article comprising a pulsed laser assembly and a glass support assembly configured to support the glass article during laser cutting within the pulsed laser assembly, wherein the pulsed laser assembly comprises at least one non-diffracting beam (NDB) forming optical element configured to convert an input beam into a quasi-NDB beam; and at least one beam transforming element configured to convert the quasi-NDB beam into multiple quasi-NDB sub-beams spaced apart a distance of about 1 μm to about 500 μm; wherein the pulsed laser assembly is oriented to deliver one or more pulses of multiple quasi-NDB sub-beams onto a surface of the glass article, wherein each pulse of multiple quasi-NDB sub-beams is operable to cut a plurality of perforations in the glass article.
1. A method of laser cutting at least one glass article comprising:
feeding the at least one glass article to a pulsed laser system, the laser system producing multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams from an input beam, the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams spaced apart a distance of about 1 μm to about 500 μm; and
using the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams to form a plurality of perforations in the glass article.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the pulsed laser system comprises at least one non-diffracting beam forming optical element configured to convert the input beam into a quasi-non-diffracting beam, and at least one beam transforming element configured to convert the quasi-non-diffracting beam into the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the beam transforming element comprises a phase grating, an amplitude grating, or combinations thereof, and the non-diffracting beam forming optical element comprises an axicon, a spatial light modulator, an elliptical lens, or combinations thereof.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one beam transforming element comprises a programmable phase element.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the programmable phase element comprises an acousto-optic modulator (AOM), an electro-optic modulator (EOM), a spatial light modulator (SLM), or a digital micro-mirror array (DMA).
6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the quasi-non-diffracting beam comprises a Bessel beam, an Airy beam, a Weber beam, or a Mathieu beam.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input beam is a Gaussian beam.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams comprise a Bessel sub-beam, an Airy sub-beam, a Weber sub-beam, or a Mathieu sub-beam.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams are parallel.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams spaced apart a distance of about 1 μm to about 20 μm.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein a phase of at least one of the multiple quasi-NDB sub-beams is shifted from about π/4 to about 2π.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein a phase of at least one of the multiple quasi-NDB sub-beams is shifted from about π/2 to about π.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams are zeroth order.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming perforations comprises non-linear absorption of the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams by the glass article.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the forming perforations comprises focusing the multiple quasi-non-diffracting sub-beams.
16. The method of claim 1 , further comprising separating the glass article along the plurality of perforations.