Laser ablation of metals with burst pulses

In the last decade, pulse bursts consisting of multiple pulses with a delay of several 10 ns and less found their way into the area of micromachining of metals, opening up completely new process regimes. Depending on the processing regime, an increase in the structuring rates and surface quality of machined parts can be achieved. Physical effects such as shielding or re-deposition of material have led to a new understanding of the related machining strategies and processing regimes. Results of both experimental and numerical investigations are placed into context for different time scales during laser processing. Furthermore, technical applications are discussed.