Fast beam manipulation: Elliptical beam handling for Acousto-Optic Deflectors (AOD) in industrial laser processing

AODs have been implemented as the third level of compound beam positioning after previously combining galvanometer based scanner mirrors and translation stages in ESI´s laser micromachining systems. The successful integration allows arbitrary local positioning within the AOD scan field with update rates of up to 1 MHz. Elliptical beam handling enables a cost effective trade-off between update rate and AOD scan field to maximize the AOD´s impact on a given laser processing task.