Crack-free high-aspect ratio holes in glasses by top–down percussion drilling with infrared femtosecond laser GHz-bursts

Abstract We report novel results on top-down percussion drilling in different glasses with femtosecond laser GHz-bursts. Thanks to this particular regime of light – matter interaction, combining non-linear absorption and thermal cumulative effects, we obtained crack-free holes of aspect ratios exceeding 30 in sodalime and 70 in fused silica. The results are discussed in terms of inner wall morphology, aspect ratio and drilling speed.