Abstract: A method and apparatus for the rapid sectioning of hollow cylindrical bodies by means of coherent light. The method applies to nonmetallic substances under special consideration of glass.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for the separation of round or elliptical bodies from the surrounding material or for annular shaped bodies from the material sorrounding the OD as well as the material confined by the ID. The method applies to non-metallic substances under special consideration of glass.

Abstract: This invention relates to a group of methods aimed to facilitate the start of a controlled thermal scoring, shearing or separation method applied to brittle materials. More or less all thermal scoring, shearing or separation methods have in common that the specific energy level inherent to this method remains constant over the path. Such energy level sufficient to control the propagation of a crack is insufficient to start the same.

Abstract: This invention relates to a method for sundering semiconductor materials. The interesting optical properties of semiconducting materials such as monocrystalline Silicon, Gallium arsenide (GaAs) and Indium phosphide (InP) and epitaxial materials such as InGaP/GaAs, InP/InGaAs, AlGaAs/GaAs, InAlAs/InGaAs as well as SOS (Silicon on Sapphire) are sufficiently similar to employ a general technique according to this invention with only minor modifications for the individual materials. This invention is using electromagnetic radiation in the far-infrared, a wavelength known to have comparably small extinction coefficients in the particular group of materials. This invention describes a method to couple the effects of weak absorption, temperature dependency of the adsorption and incoherent internal reflection to create sufficient stress in the material to extend an initially surface bound rupture throughout the material.