Patent ID: 8025659

Claim:
A laser apparatus for material treatment, comprising: a source of laser radiation providing pulsed laser radiation comprising a train of laser pulses; and a deflecting device, which directs said laser radiation into the material at different, selectable locations to generate optical breakthroughs within the material; and a pulse picking device that modifies selected laser pulses of the train of laser pulses, with regard to at least one optical parameter of said selected laser pulses, such that the selected laser pulses cannot generate optical breakthroughs; and a control device operably coupled to the source of laser radiation, the deflecting device and the pulse picking device, and the control device being operable to monitor and control the source of laser radiation, the deflecting device and the pulse picking device; the control device being further operable to control the operation of the pulse picking device such that the pulse picking device influences said selected laser pulses such that only a remaining subset of not selected laser pulses cause optical breakthroughs within the material and such that a number of selected pulses varies in relation to a deflection speed of the deflecting device.