Microprocessing of glass materials by laser-induced plasma-assisted ablation using nanosecond pulsed lasers

In this paper, we demonstrate formation of micro-grating in fused silica by laser-induced plasma assisted-ablation using different wavelength lasers projected through a metallic mask. With becoming longer wavelengths from 266,532 to 1060nm, the ablation rate of fused silica at 1.5J/cm2 decreases from 21,2 to nm/pulse. While the ablation threshold of laser fluence increases from 0.7, 1.5 to 3.75 J/cm2. The 2.0mm deep through holes in Pyrex glass are drilled by single-beam 532nm-laser ablation. While the same deep through holes in fused quartz are only drilled by double-pulse-train of 532nm-laser ablation with a time-delay of 3.3ns. Finally, the ablation process was analyzed by an in-situ observation of laser-produced plasma, revealing different natures for surface patterning and channel- drilling.