Abstract

The laser beam can heat a surface with relatively shallow heat penetration. The intensity can be varied to cause reactions from gentle heating to explosive boiling. The extraordinary control possible over the shape of the energy distribution through optical devices such as mirrors, lenses, masks, and diffractive optics and the equally precise control over the energy delivery in time–pulse shaping–makes laser beam surface processing one of the most versatile technologies to have been developed in recent years.

© 1996 Optical Society of America