Patent ID: 7717905

Claim:
A method for performing laser induced optical breakdown (LIOB) in a substantially transparent material which comprises the steps of: calculating a pattern for a succession of laser focal spots in the material, wherein LIOB occurs at each focal spot in a volume of material having a diameter “d 1 ”, and the LIOB results in the generation of a cavitation bubble having a maximum diameter “d 2 ”, where “d 2 ” is greater than “d 1 ”, and a decay time “τ” during which the cavitation bubble collapses to a substantially stationary diameter “d 3 ”, with (d 1 ≦d 3 ≦d 2 ); inducing LIOB at a first focal spot in the pattern; inducing LIOB at an interim focal spot within the time period “τ”, wherein the center of the interim focal spot is at a distance greater than “d 2 ” from the center of the first focal spot and at a distance greater than “d 2 ” from the center of a second focal spot; waiting for a time period of “τ”; and inducing LIOB at the second focal spot in the pattern after the time “τ”, wherein the second focal spot is substantially juxtaposed with the first focal spot at a distance less than “d 2 ” from the center of the first focal spot.