Scientists develop new technique for laser micro-machining

A new optical technique, capable of producing laser beams with unusual modes of electric field, has been developed by scientists at the University of Liverpool. The new technique could have a major impact on laser micro-machining, by increasing process efficiency and quality through the use of different modes of 'polarisation' or electric fields. These are unusual states of light and difficult to produce. Many lasers have linear polarisation - where the electric field of the beam is, for example, vertical everywhere. Radial and azimuthal polarisations, however, have a directional change of electric field and it is laser beams with these particular modes that have been produced by scientists at Liverpool. Broad range of uses Laser micro-machining with linear polarisation is used in a wide range of precision manufacturing industries, from the drilling of holes for fuel injection nozzles, to the processing of silicon wafers and the precise machining of medical stent devices. The Liverpool Laser Group , part of the School of Engineering , was able to successfully demonstrate a flexible and cost-effective way of producing radial and azimuthal polarisation modes using a Hamamatsu Spatial Light Modulator.