Thin film ablation with pulsed nanosecond lasers can benefit from the use of beam shaping optics to transform the Gaussian beam profile with a circular footprint into a Top-Hat beam profile with a rectangular footprint. In general, the quality of the transformed beam profile depends strongly on the beam alignment of the entire laser system. In particular, the adjustment of the beam shaping element is of upmost importance. For an appropriate alignment of the beam shaper, it is generally necessary to observe the intensity distribution near the focal position of the applied focusing optics. Systems with a low numerical aperture (NA) can commonly be qualified by means of laser beam profilers, such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. However, laser systems for micromachining typically employ focus lenses with a high NA, which generate focal spot sizes of only several microns in diameter. This turns out to be a challenge for common beam profiling measurement systems and complicates the adjustment of the beam shaper strongly. In this contribution, we evaluate the quality of a Top-Hat beam profiling element and its alignment in the working area based on the ablated geometry of single pulse ablation of thin transparent conductive oxides. To determine the best achievable adjustment, we develop a quality index for rectangular laser ablation spots and investigate the influences of different alignment parameters, which can affect the intensity distribution of a Top-Hat laser beam profile.

We report on a comprehensive study of laser percussion microvia drilling of FR-4 printed circuit board material using ultrashort pulse lasers with emission in the green spectral region. Laser pulse durations in the pico- and femtosecond regime, laser pulse repetition rates up to 400 kHz and laser fluences up to 11.5 J/cm${}^2$ are applied to optimize the quality of microvias, as being evaluated by the generated taper, the extension of glass fiber protrusions and damage of inner lying copper layers using materialography. The results are discussed in terms of the ablation threshold for FR-4 and copper, heat accumulation and pulse shielding effects as a result of pulse to pulse interactions. As a specific result, using a laser pulse duration of 2 ps appears beneficial, resulting in small glass fiber protrusions and high precision in the stopping process at inner copper layer. If laser pulse repetition rates larger than 100 kHz are applied, we find that the processing quality can be increased by heat accumulation effects.

We present a comprehensive experimental study on laser-induced hierarchic nano-micro periodic surface structures on brass that influences wetting behavior. Using ultra short laser pulses with a wavelength of 1030 nm, large scaled areas completely covered by laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) are generated with these areas being superimposed by ablation trenches and u-ripples. The influence of the incident laser fluence and pulse overlap on the apparent contact angle for coverage of the surface with distilled water with a surface tension of 74 mN/m are examined with its temporal evolution being observed over a period of two weeks. Our results show an initial drop in the apparent contact angle below the angle of an unstructured surface. Using atomic force microscopy, the roughness factor described by the Wenzel model is determined and compared to the roughness factor given by the apparent contact angle measurement. The ascertained difference in roughness cannot be entirely attributed to the topography of the laser-structured surface. We suggest that changes in the surface chemistry additionally alter the wetting behavior as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements. On a time scale of days after laser irradiation, the apparent contact angle increases into the hydrophobic range. Both the absolute apparent contact angle and this temporal change reveal a pronounced dependence on the applied laser fluence and pulse overlap. In particular, increasing both, the fluence and the pulse overlap leads to smaller apparent contact angles directly after the irradiation and to higher apparent contact angles after an observation period of two weeks.

In this contribution we report on the possibilities of dry and lubricated friction modification introduced by different laser surface texturing methods. We compare the potential of Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures and Laser Beam Interference Ablation on 100Cr6 steel in a linear reciprocating ball-on-disc configuration using 100Cr6 steel and tungsten carbide balls with load forces between 50 mN and 1000 mN. For dry friction, we find a possibility to reduce the coefficient of friction and we observe a pronounced direction dependency for surfaces fabricated by Laser Beam Interference Ablation. Furthermore, Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures result in a load-dependent friction reduction for lubricated linear reciprocating movements. This work helps to identify the modification behaviour of laser generated micro structures with feature sizes of approximately 1 µm and reveals new possibilities for surface engineering.