Patent ID: 8723076

Claim:
A system for cutting a trench of multiple widths in a material with a single pass of a laser beam, the system comprising: a laser source to generate the laser beam; a first optical component to receive the laser beam, wherein the first optical component is selectively adjustable to change a position of a focal plane with respect to a work surface of the material; and a second optical component to direct the laser beam to the work surface of the material; and a beam positioner subsystem configured to establish: a first cutting speed of the laser beam with respect to the work surface, the first cutting speed corresponding to a first trench width to be cut in the work surface by the laser beam at a beginning of a transition region, the first trench width defined by a first series of laser pulses, each laser pulse in the first series having a first spot size at the work surface; a second cutting speed of the laser beam with respect to the work surface, the second cutting speed corresponding to a second trench width to be cut into the work surface by the laser beam at an end of the transition region, the second trench width defined by a second series of laser pulses, each laser pulse in the second series having a second spot size at the work surface; and a gradual change, according to a continuously changing cutting speed temporal profile, between the first and second cutting speeds while the first optical component undergoes a series of changes to sequentially change spot sizes at the work surface as a function of time on a per pulse basis from the first spot size to the second spot size.