ABSTRACT
References ..................................................................................................................................... 621
Lasers represent one of the most important inventions of the twentieth century. With their development it was possible to get a highly intensive, monochromatic, coherent, highly polarized light wave [1,2]. The first laser was created in 1960 in Californian laboratories with the aid of a resonator from an artificial ruby crystal. Dating from this period is also the first industrial application of laser, which was used to make holes in diamond materials extremely difficult to machine. First applications of laser metal machining were not particularly successful mostly due to low capability and instability of laser sources in different machining conditions. These first applications, no matter how successful they were, have however led to the development of a number of new laser source types.
