Patent ID: 7817685

Claim:
A laser processing system for generating stable laser pulse trains at high repetition rates, the system comprising: a processing head configured to illuminate target locations of a material with a laser pulse train; a laser source configured to output a continuous wave (CW) or quasi-CW laser beam; and an optical shutter external to and separate from the laser source, the optical shutter configured to: receive the CW or quasi-CW laser beam from the laser source; receive a control signal; generate the laser pulse train from the CW or quasi-CW laser beam based on the control signal, the generated laser pulse train comprising a first series of laser pulses at a repetition rate and a second series of laser pulses at the repetition rate, the repetition rate and the number of pulses in each of the first series and the second series being independent of the received CW or quasi-CW laser beam; shape a last laser pulse in each of the first series and the second series to be a different shape than the remaining laser pulses in the first series and the second series to increase coupling efficiency of the first series with a first target location of the material and the second series with a second target location of the material; and direct the laser pulse train to the processing head for processing the first target location with the first series of laser pulses and the second target location with the second series of laser pulses.