Ultrafast Cylindrical Vector Beams for Improved Energy Feedthrough and Low Roughness Surface Ablation of Metals

The use of ultrafast cylindrical vector vortex beams in laser–matter interactions permits new ablation features to be harnessed from inhomogeneous distributions of polarization and beam geometry. As a consequence, the ablation process can yield higher ablation efficiency compared with conventional Gaussian beams. These beams prevent surface quality degradation during the ablative processes. When processing stainless steel and titanium, the average surface roughness obtained by deploying the cylindrical vector is up to 94% lower than the Gaussian case, and the processing efficiency is 80% higher.