Patent ID: 8309885

Claim:
A laser system for processing a material with a selectively shaped burst of ultrafast laser pulses, the system comprising: a burst pulse laser configured to emit a burst of three or more laser pulses defined by a selectively shaped burst envelope, wherein the burst pulse laser is further configured to selectively adjust temporal spacing between the three or more laser pulses within the burst envelope and the temporal width of the burst envelope; and one or more amplifiers configured to amplify the group of three or more laser pulses so as to obtain a desired shape of the burst envelope; wherein the burst pulse laser comprises: a first laser source configured to emit a train of laser pulses at a first repetition rate; and an optical modulator receiving the train of laser pulses, the optical modulator configured to amplitude modulate the train of laser pulses so as to generate the burst of three or more laser pulses defined by the selectively shaped burst envelope; and wherein the selectively shaped burst envelope comprises a rise time in a range between approximately 10 picoseconds and approximately 1 nanosecond.