Abstract
Ultra-short pulsed laser systems provide high accuracy and high-quality materials processing for various kinds of applications. However, one of the highest industrial needs is to identify most efficient processes to achieve high throughput. In terms of ultra-short pulsed laser processing of metals, the specific removal rate (ablated volume per time and average power) shows a maximum value i.e. there exists an optimum fluence where the ablation process is most efficient. In this study the influence of spot size and shape (Gaussian and Top Hat) on the ablation efficiency on AISI 304 (1.4301) steel grade was examined using 10 ps and 350 fs laser pulses at wavelengths of 1064 nm and 1030 nm. The investigation revealed a significant drop of the specific removal rate with increasing Gaussian spot size for both pulse duration. While this behaviour is less pronounced for a Top Hat, showing just 8% decrease of specific removal rate for spot sizes bigger than 40 µm.
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