Theoretical and experimental research on a spatially modulated femtosecond bessel-like laser for microdrilling in silica glass.

Beam shaping has been widely used in laser processing. Compared with Bessel beam, Bessel-like beam has unique advantages of fabricating high-aspect-ratio holes due to its tunable and longer non-diffraction length. However, the theoretical and experimental optimization of Bessel-like beams for laser manufacture has remained to be investigated. In this paper, we established a theoretical model of the intensity distribution and peak energy density of the Bessel-like beams based on a simplified phase of arc axicon. It was found that the longer propagation length and the lower peak energy density of the Bessel-like beams, contributed to the longer ablation length and higher ablation precision in the silica glass. The ablation length of the optimized Bessel-like beams was at least 1.6 times longer than that of the Bessel beam, which furtherly improved the fabrication efficiency of microdrilling. • Bessel-like beams were generated by an arc axicon. • The intensity distribution and peak energy density of Bessel-like beams were investigated. • The optimized Bessel-like beams ablated longer length and higher precision in silica glass. • Through-microholes array showed considerable precision and uniformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]