Method and device for laser processing of transparent materials

A device for processing a workpiece, comprising:

• a laser source for generating a laser beam,
• an optical system, for forming a Gauss-Bessel laser beam having a Gauss-Bessel intensity profile from the laser beam and localizing the Gauss-Bessel laser beam in the workpiece to form a damage region in the workpiece along a beam propagation direction, wherein the workpiece is transparent to the Gauss-Bessel laser beam,
• a positioning mechanism comprising a first movable stage and a second movable stage controlled by a controller, wherein the first movable stage is coupled to the optical system and the second movable stage is coupled to the workpiece to displace the workpiece and the Gauss-Bessel laser beam with respect to each other, so that a plurality of damage regions are created in a predefined trajectory in order to form a cutting or breaking plane of the workpiece,
• wherein an optical element is placed in the optical path of the laser beam or the optical path of the Gauss-Bessel laser beam, wherein the optical element comprises a transparent plate covering the Gauss-Bessel laser beam, the covered portion of the Gauss-Bessel laser beam passing through the transparent plate such that a symmetry of the Gauss-Bessel laser beam is disrupted to form an asymmetric Gauss-Bessel laser beam localized in the workpiece, the asymmetric Gauss-Bessel laser beam having an elongated shape in a plane perpendicular to a laser beam propagation direction and inducing the damage region having an elongated shape in the plane perpendicular to the laser beam propagation direction, and
• wherein the positioning mechanism is configured to perform a controlled displacement of the workpiece and the Gauss-Bessel laser beam relative to each other such that the damaged regions having the elongated shape from among the plurality of damage regions are induced longitudinally one after another along the predefined trajectory of the cutting or breaking plane in the workpiece.