Method of treating a layer of material with energetic radiation

In a method of treating a layer of material with energetic radiation, in particular for generative component production, a processing head is used, which is configured to direct separate energetic beams onto the layer of material such that adjacent spots (1) of said separate energetic beams partly overlap at the layer of material. The separate energetic beams are at least temporary directed at the layer of material and are guided in a movement direction (2) over the layer of material. The radiant power of the energetic beams is periodically modulated between a high power for time intervals tp and a low or zero power for time intervals ∆t. The periodic modulation of the radiant power is performed such that at least for the outmost regions of said area to be treated within the layer of material, the melting pools forming during the time intervals tp are separated from one another in the movement direction (2). With the proposed method a high surface quality can be achieved and at the same time the advantages of continuous melting pools for influencing the form of the melting track are maintained.