Various aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward utilizing pulsed laser light to melt and displace material along a surface. As may be consistent with one or more embodiments, material at respective regions of a surface is melted and displaced using pulsed laser light. The melting and displacement at different ones of the regions is carried out to facilitate different displacement at each region. Such an approach may be used by varying characteristics, such as fluence, of the pulsed laser light at each region. In this contexts, surfaces can be smoothed, and structures can be formed on the surface.

Various aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward utilizing pulsed laser light to melt and displace material along a surface. As may be consistent with one or more embodiments, material at respective regions of a surface is melted and displaced using pulsed laser light. The melting and displacement at different ones of the regions is carried out to facilitate different displacement at each region. Such an approach may be used by varying characteristics, such as fluence, of the pulsed laser light at each region. In this contexts, surfaces can be smoothed, and structures can be formed on the surface.

Thin-film devices, for example electrochromic devices for windows, and methods of manufacturing are described. Particular focus is given to methods of patterning optical devices. Various edge deletion and isolation scribes are performed, for example, to ensure the optical device has appropriate isolation from any edge defects. Methods described herein apply to any thin-film device having one or more material layers sandwiched between two thin film electrical conductor layers. The described methods create novel optical device configurations.

A method for producing a three-dimensional component by means of a laser melting process, in which the component is produced by consecutively solidifying individual layers made of building material by melting the building material, wherein said building material can be solidified by the action of radiation, wherein the melting area produced by a punctiform and/or linear energy input is detected by a sensor device and sensor values are derived therefrom in order to evaluate the component quality. The sensor values detected in order to evaluate the component quality are stored together with the coordinate values that locate the sensor values in the component and are displayed by means of a visualization unit in two- and/or multi-dimensional representation with respect to the detection location of the sensor values in the component.

A method for producing a three-dimensional component by means of a laser melting process, in which the component is produced by consecutively solidifying individual layers made of building material by melting the building material, wherein said building material can be solidified by the action of radiation, wherein the melting area produced by a punctiform and/or linear energy input is detected by a sensor device and sensor values are derived therefrom in order to evaluate the component quality. The sensor values detected in order to evaluate the component quality are stored together with the coordinate values that locate the sensor values in the component and are displayed by means of a visualization unit in two- and/or multi-dimensional representation with respect to the detection location of the sensor values in the component.

An additive manufacturing system configured to additively build an article can include an energy applicator, a build platform, and a powder nozzle configured to eject powder toward the build platform to be acted on by the energy applicator. The system can include a control module configured to control the energy applicator to create an amorphous structure forming at least a portion of the article.

A method for producing a light deflection structure includes the steps of: a) producing a first plurality of interaction regions, in which at least one laser beam interacts with the substrate material along a first path with a spatial overlap of the interaction regions, b) producing a second plurality of interaction regions with a spatial overlap of the interaction regions along a second path offset with respect and with a spatial overlap with the first path, c) optionally producing a further plurality of interaction regions with a spatial overlap of the further interaction regions along a further path offset with respect to and with a spatial overlap with the path used immediately before, and d) optionally carrying out step c) multiple times. The method also includes producing type II modifications of the substrate material, and changing at least one process parameter from one beam path to another beam path.

The present disclosure relates to the field of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamonds and their processing after fabrication. In particular, the present disclosures provides a method for coring and slicing a CVD diamond product, wherein the CVD diamond product comprises a CVD diamond and graphitized material covering several side-faces of the diamond. The method is carried out by an apparatus that provides a laser beam coupled into a fluid jet. The method comprises, for the coring, cutting the product with the laser beam to remove the graphitized material from the side-faces of the diamond. Further, the method comprises, for the slicing, cutting off one or more slices from the diamond with the laser beam.

The present disclosure relates to the field of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamonds and their processing after fabrication. In particular, the present disclosures provides a method for coring and slicing a CVD diamond product, wherein the CVD diamond product comprises a CVD diamond and graphitized material covering several side-faces of the diamond. The method is carried out by an apparatus that provides a laser beam coupled into a fluid jet. The method comprises, for the coring, cutting the product with the laser beam to remove the graphitized material from the side-faces of the diamond. Further, the method comprises, for the slicing, cutting off one or more slices from the diamond with the laser beam.

A method for inspecting a transparent workpiece comprises: directing light from an illumination source onto a plurality of defects formed in the transparent workpiece, wherein the plurality of defects extends in a defect direction, wherein the transparent workpiece comprises a first surface and a second surface; detecting a scattering image signal from light scattered by the plurality of defects using an imaging system, wherein an imaging axis of the imaging system extends at a non-zero imaging angle relative to the defect direction, wherein entireties of at least a subset of the plurality of defects are within a depth of field of the imaging system; and generating a three-dimensional image of at least one of the plurality of defects based on the scattering signal.