ABSTRACT
High-precision and low-damage machining of transparent materials
is one of the challenges of current laser materials process-
ing to enable new applications in ultraprecise surface machin-
ing, microsystems technology, nanotechnology, and information
technology.1−3 Patterning, micromachining, modification, and surface shaping of such materials can also be performed with a
number of traditional processes. Lithography combined with wet
or dry etching is well known but requires multiple-step process
technology that involves photolithographic masking and pattern
transfer. Submicron resolution can be achieved by using this
approach, but 3D topographies require considerably more effort.4,5
In addition, the pattern transfer into chemically stable materials,
such as fluorides, by either chemical etching or physical sputtering
is sophisticated.6 Instead of pattern transfer, photosensitive glass
enables the fabrication of microstructures through direct exposure
of the material and subsequent wet etching, but limitations in the
material and the achievable surface quality still exist.