Influence of Axicon Tilt in Axially Condensed Beam Generation

Axially condensed beams exhibit properties suitable for laser micro-fabrication. The influence of axicon tilt was examined when an axially condensed beam was formed using an axicon. For both types of axicons, conical shape glass lens and binary diffractive optical element (DOE), the ideal axially condensed beam profile is kept below a tilt angle of less than about 5 °. The beam generation using an axicon does not need precise alignment. However, with the conical shape glass axicon, the symmetry axis of the cone and the undersurface should be orthogonal within an angle error margin of 1', for axially condensed beam generation. This is the first report to present laser drill performance using a DOE axicon.