Vortex DOEs are becoming increasingly popular in laser material processing as they put very few demands on the laser beam and on the distance to the working area. Another advantage of these components is the intensity distribution of the laser beam: a laser beam features the highest beam intensity at its centre. In the vortex DOE, the power at the edge of the beam is used to achieve higher efficiency during processing.
The technical challenges involved in achieving a square outer cross section were enormous, but HOLO/OR made it happen!