Application of laser-guided discharge to processing

We have developed a laser-guided discharge (LGD) method at low air pressure and have conducted processing application experiments using it. This method enables us to machine the cathode (work piece) by guiding the discharge to the laser irradiating position without moving the anode. The number of discharge cycles can be controlled by the number of laser irradiation cycles. Pb, Sn, Zn were selected as cathodes, because the energy to heat them from the room temperature to the evaporation point small and it is easy to examine the processing characteristic of LGD under relativity small number of discharge cycles. It is found that the area and machined mass of individual discharge traces vary depending on the cathode material in use, even with the same discharge voltage and electrostatic energy. The LGD processing turns out to be consistent with the laser processing and the are discharge processing. But the LGD processing does not seem to be a simple superposition of those processings.