## 1 Introduction  
This paper discusses laser processing as part of the new generation of techniques used in metal surface technology. The mechanical and physical properties of silver alloys have caused their use to continually grow, especially for electrical uses, e.g., in railway electrical networks and traction for switches. The most important properties determining their use include their good machinability, good electromagnetic shielding properties, high electrical conductivity (6.3 \(\times\) 107 Siemens/m), and thermal conductivity in the range of 429 W/mK, which is relatively high, even compared to aluminium with its thermal conductivity of 185 W/mK. These alloys are also easily recycled. Electrical and thermal conductivity are closely related. Pure silver has the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals and the lowest contact resistance. Electrical conductivity determines how well a material transmits an electrical current. Copper wires are often thought to have excellent electrical conductivity. For the most part, good conductors of electricity are also good conductors of heat. Silver has the highest electrical conductivity of all metals. In fact, silver defines conductivity, and all other metals are compared to it. On a scale of 0 to 100, silver is 100,copper is 97 and gold is 76. Due to this property and the fact that it does not spark easily, silver is commonly used in electrical circuits and contacts. It is also used in batteries, where reliability is required and weight limits apply, such as those in portable surgical instruments, hearing aids, pacemakers, and equipment for space travel. Nevertheless, they present strong disadvantages in their relatively low wear resistance and hardness, which can be a problem for long-term usage, such as in switch elements. The combination of laser surface treatment and addition of different types of metallic powders in the surface layer has been identified as a possible solution for this [1; 2; 3]. Surface treatments such as laser alloying or the remelting of metals and their alloys are typical examples of applications in which the diode laser shows advantages compared to other lasers, e.g., CO\({}_{2}\). Surface treatment requires a specific amount of heat transfer to ensure an evenly hardened surface with the expected properties. In the presented work, surface treatment was performed using an ytterbium laser. According to [PERSON] and [PERSON], a diode laser was chosen due to properties such as its shorter wavelength of electromagnetic radiation compared to conventional lasers previously used for the surface treatment of engineering materials, which increases the energy linearity and thus the precision of surface processing [4]. The past decade has seen a significant growth in interest in using laser techniques to both improve surface properties and perform cutting or welding. Laser surface treatment techniques, such as remelting and surface alloying, are increasingly used to improve the mechanical properties and tribological properties of all groups of metal alloys. These applications of lasers for surface treatment allow for a wide range of thicknesses of the treated surface to be obtained, and the average depth of remelting is usually between 5 \(\upmu\)m and 5 mm [5; 6; 7; 8]. Figure 1 presents the technological development of diverse laser applications with several types of metals, where laser remelting and alloying are still in the developing phase [9; 10]. Materials such as metals and alloys are soft and ductile, which enables them to resist cracks under higher stress levels and loading, while hard and brittle materials possess low fracture toughness and are prone to crack propagation at lower stresses and loadings; therefore, it would be reasonable to introduce additional alloying elements to the silver surface layer, which could build a quasi-composite fraction and thus improve the wear resistance and hardness of silver-made electrical switches [11; 12].