Millisecond laser machining of transparent materials assisted by nanosecond laser

A new form of double pulse composed of a nanosecond laser and a millisecond laser is proposed for laser machining transparent materials. To evaluate its advantages and disadvantages, experimental investigations are carried out and the corresponding results are compared with those of single millisecond laser. The mechanism is discussed from two aspects: material defects and effects of modifications induced by nanosecond laser on thermal stress field during millisecond laser irradiation. It is shown that the modifications of the sample generated by nanosecond laser improves the processing efficiency of subsequent millisecond laser, while limits the eventual size of modified region.