Laser radiation - a versatile tool for surface processing

The basic physical processes of surface processing with laser radiation are shortly outlined. For low power densities energy transfer by heat conduction and mass transfer by diffusion are dominant with pronouncing convection and evaporation at increasing power densities. Typical examples of applied tooling with laser radiation are reported to highlight the state of the art and to demonstrate the future trends in surface processing with laser radiation as beam delivery, beam shaping, processing and quality assurance.