Systems and methods are described for forming continuous curved laser filaments in transparent materials. The filaments are preferably curved and C-shaped. Filaments may employ other curved profiles (shapes). A burst of ultrafast laser pulses is focused such that a beam waist is formed external to the material being processed without forming an external plasma channel, while a sufficient energy density is formed within an extended region within the material to support the formation of a continuous filament, without causing optical breakdown within the material. Filaments formed according to this method may exhibit lengths in the range of 100 μm-10 mm. An aberrated optical focusing element is employed to produce an external beam waist while producing distributed focusing of the incident beam within the material. Optical monitoring of the filaments may be employed to provide feedback to facilitate active control of the process.

Systems and methods are described for forming continuous curved laser filaments in transparent materials. The filaments are preferably curved and C-shaped. Filaments may employ other curved profiles (shapes). A burst of ultrafast laser pulses is focused such that a beam waist is formed external to the material being processed without forming an external plasma channel, while a sufficient energy density is formed within an extended region within the material to support the formation of a continuous filament, without causing optical breakdown within the material. Filaments formed according to this method may exhibit lengths in the range of 100 μm-10 mm. An aberrated optical focusing element is employed to produce an external beam waist while producing distributed focusing of the incident beam within the material. Optical monitoring of the filaments may be employed to provide feedback to facilitate active control of the process.

A head-up display (HUD) mirror that includes a mirror substrate with a first major surface with a concave shape, a second major surface opposite to the first major surface and with a convex shape, and a minor surface connecting the first and second major surfaces. The HUD mirror also a reflective layer disposed on the first major surface. The first major surface has a first surface roughness Ra of 3 nm or less and a peak to valley (PV) roughness of less than 30 nm, and the mirror substrate is a glass or glass-ceramic material.

A method of separating a coated substrate includes directing an infrared laser beam onto a first surface of the coated substrate. The coated substrate includes a coating layer disposed on a transparent workpiece, a plurality of defects is disposed within the coated substrate along a contour line that divides a primary region from a dummy region of the coated substrate from a dummy region of the coated substrate. The method also includes translating at least one of the coated substrate and the infrared laser beam relative to each other such that an infrared beam spot traces an oscillating pathway that follows an offset line in a translation direction and oscillates between an inner and outer track line, the oscillating pathway is disposed on the dummy region of the coated substrate, and the infrared laser beam applies thermal energy to the plurality of defects to induce separation of the coated substrate.

A laser processing system for a glass workpiece comprises a frame with a first laser module thereon, a modifying device, and a blanking device. The blanking device comprises a second laser module, a hollow support element, a clamping module disposed on the frame, a heater disposed on the hollow support element, and a cooler connected to the clamping module. A method adapted to the system comprises a modifying process, a determining process, and a blanking process. In the modifying process, a first laser beam is irradiated to the glass workpiece along a processing contour line to intermittently modify the glass workpiece. According to the determining process, the blanking process is processed to have a crack being generated in a modified portion of the glass workpiece, wherein the crack divides the glass workpiece into an outer area and an inner area, and changes a temperature of the glass workpiece to have the glass workpiece being deformed, so that the outer area and the inner area are separated.

A laser processing system for a glass workpiece comprises a frame with a first laser module thereon, a modifying device, and a blanking device. The blanking device comprises a second laser module, a hollow support element, a clamping module disposed on the frame, a heater disposed on the hollow support element, and a cooler connected to the clamping module. A method adapted to the system comprises a modifying process, a determining process, and a blanking process. In the modifying process, a first laser beam is irradiated to the glass workpiece along a processing contour line to intermittently modify the glass workpiece. According to the determining process, the blanking process is processed to have a crack being generated in a modified portion of the glass workpiece, wherein the crack divides the glass workpiece into an outer area and an inner area, and changes a temperature of the glass workpiece to have the glass workpiece being deformed, so that the outer area and the inner area are separated.

A filamentation process uses ultrafast laser pulses to form a line of filaments or perforations in a glass material in sheet form. The glass material is then cleaved using mechanical or thermal stress to form a glass substrate with a planar doughnut shape having an inner circular edge and an outer circular edge. The inner and outer edges may exhibit filamentary damage from the filamentation process, including microcracks and pillar shaped funnels along an entire length of the edge. The inner and/or outer edges may then be treated by polishing only, by etching only, or by etching and polishing to remove a portion of the filamentary damage to improve the strength of the edges. The resulting glass substrate may be used in a magnetic medium for a magnetic recording device, wherein it provides an edge strength sufficient to withstand high force shocks to the device.

Laser-based techniques for cutting and drilling of transparent components are disclosed. These laser-based techniques rely on laser modification of transparent substrates followed by chemical etching and are suitable for use with a variety of transparent substrates. Transparent components and enclosures and electronic devices including the transparent components are also disclosed herein.

A method for separating an ultrathin glass using ultrashort laser pulses of an ultrashort pulse laser includes focusing the ultrashort laser pulses into the ultrathin glass such that a resulting focal zone is elongated in a beam direction and extends over an entire thickness of the ultrathin glass. The ultrashort laser pulses have a non-radially symmetric beam cross section perpendicular to a beam propagation direction. The method further includes introducing material modifications into the ultrathin glass along a separating line using the ultrashort laser pulses focused into the ultrathin glass, and separating the ultrathin glass along the separating line.

A method for separating an ultrathin glass using ultrashort laser pulses of an ultrashort pulse laser includes focusing the ultrashort laser pulses into the ultrathin glass such that a resulting focal zone is elongated in a beam direction and extends over an entire thickness of the ultrathin glass. The ultrashort laser pulses have a non-radially symmetric beam cross section perpendicular to a beam propagation direction. The method further includes introducing material modifications into the ultrathin glass along a separating line using the ultrashort laser pulses focused into the ultrathin glass, and separating the ultrathin glass along the separating line.