Temporal airy pulses efficiency in thin glass dicing

Abstract Ultrashort pulse laser sources are useful tools for micro- and nano-processing large band gap dielectric materials. One of the biggest advantages of these pulses is the possibility to reach high intensity peaks that promote absorption even in materials transparent to the laser wavelength. In addition, if the pulse temporal distribution is modified, energy absorption enables the ablation of small diameter holes with large depths. In this work, we present preliminary results that implement three types of pulses as precursors for glass dicing: Bandwidth-limited (30 fs at 785 nm), positively, and negatively dispersed Temporal Airy Pulses (TAP). The material of choice was 170 μm thick soda-lime glass, inscribed at 1 kHz repetition rate in tight (50× objective) and loose (20× objective) focusing conditions for different laser energies and scanning speeds. After laser processing, the glass was diced by mechanical stress, with a home built four-point bending stage. We analyzed the quality of the scribed lines at the surface and in cross-section after breaking, as well as the necessary breaking force for all three types of laser pulses. We report that positive TAP produced a neat, flat-cut edge on the glass samples compared with the other implemented pulses.