This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9740, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, Introduction (if any), and Conference Committee listing.

We developed a platform based on 3D plasmonic nanoantennas able to perform different functions with applications in the biological research area. In particular it will be shown how the peculiar geometry of the system plays a fundamental role, leading to a tight interaction with the cellular membrane. Such configuration allows on one side the investigation of extracellular features through enhanced vibrational spectroscopy and electrical recording, and on the other the possibility of intracellular injection by optoporation. In this regard it will be demonstrated how the characteristics of the laser pulse used for exciting the antenna establish the kind of involved phenomena. A dependence of these properties on the metal coating the antenna will be also shown.

Diode-pumping Ti:sapphire lasers promises a new approach to low-cost femtosecond light sources. Thus in recent years much effort has been taken just to overcome the quite low power and low beam qualities of available green diodes to obtain output powers of several hundred milliwatts from a fs-laser. In this work we present an alternative method by deploying frequency-doubled IR diodes with good beam qualities to pump fs-lasers. The revolutionary approach allows choosing any pump wavelengths in the green region and avoids complicated relay optics for the diodes. For the first time we show results of a diode-pumped 10 fs-laser and how a single diode setup can be integrated into a 30 x 30 cm² fs-laser system generating sub 20 fs laser pulses with output power towards half a Watt. This technology paves the way for a new class of very compact and cost-efficient fs-lasers for life science and industrial applications.

Fiber Bragg grating is used in a variety of applications. In this study, we suggest compact, cost-effective coherent anti- Stokes Raman spectroscopy which is based on the pulse shaping methods via commercialized fiber Bragg grating. The experiment is performed incorporating a commercialized femtosecond pulse laser system (MICRA, Coherent) with a 100 mm length of 780-HP fiber which is inscribed 50 mm of Bragg grating. The pump laser for coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy has a bandwidth of 90 nm and central wavelength of 815 nm with a notch shaped at 785 nm. The positive chirped pulse is compensated by chirped mirror set. We compensate almost 14000 fs² of positive group delay dispersion for the transform-limited pulse at the sample position. The pulse duration was 15 fs with average power of 50 mW, and showed an adequate notch shape. Finally, coherent anti-Stokes Raman signals are observed using a spectrometer (Jobin Yvon Triax320 and TE-cooled Andor Newton EMCCD). We obtained coherent anti-Stokes Raman signal of acetone sample which have Raman peak at the spectral finger-print region. In conclusion, the proposed method is more simple and cost-effective than the methods of previous research which use grating pairs and resonant photonic crystal slab. Furthermore, the proposed method can be used as endoscope application.

We demonstrate ultrashort pulse spatiotemporal field measurement for multimode optical fibers, using a singleframe characterization technique, called Spatially and Temporally Resolved Intensity and Phase Evaluation Device: Full Information from a Single Hologram (STRIPED FISH). We measure STRIPED FISH traces and retrieve the pulse field E(x,y,t) or equivalently E(x,y,ω), to generate movies revealing the field structure induced by propagating modes, due to their differences in field spatial distribution, modal propagation velocity and modal dispersion inside the fiber. We launch femtosecond pulses near 800nm from Ti: Sapphire laser to investigate linearly polarized modes LP₀₁, LP₁₁, LP₀₂ and LP₂₁ in multimode fibers.

Ultrafast time-dependent optical reflection and/or transmission spectroscopy can be used to measure time responses of materials and time arrivals between two unrelated ultrafast pulses. For example, a pump pulse, such as an x-ray pulse, excites a material, changing its refractive index. A spectrogram monitoring the change of intensity of a reflected or transmitted optical probe pulse can be used to indirectly monitor the refractive index change. Standard spectrogram deconvolution methods can be used to extract characteristics of both the material response and the probe pulse, but care must be taken to consider any experimental artifacts.

Laser induced optical breakdown (LIOB) is a non-linear absorption process leading to plasma formation at locations where the threshold irradiance for breakdown is surpassed. In this paper we experimentally demonstrate the influence of polarization and absorption on laser induced breakdown threshold in transparent, absorbing and scattering phantoms made from water suspensions of polystyrene microspheres. We demonstrate that radially polarized light yields a lower irradiance threshold for creating optical breakdown compared to linearly polarized light. We also demonstrate that the thermal initiation pathway used for generating seed electrons results in a lower irradiance threshold compared to multiphoton initiation pathway used for optical breakdown.

Advanced fabrication and finishing techniques are desired for freeform optics and integrated photonics. Methods including grinding, polishing and magnetorheological finishing used for final figuring and polishing of such optics are time consuming, expensive, and may be unsuitable for complex surface features while common photonics fabrication techniques often limit devices to planar geometries. Laser processing has been investigated as an alternative method for optic forming, surface polishing, structure writing, and welding, as direct tuning of laser parameters and flexible beam delivery are advantageous for complex freeform or photonics elements and material-specific processing. Continuous wave and pulsed laser radiation down to the nanosecond regime have been implemented to achieve nanoscale surface finishes through localized material melting, but the temporal extent of the laser-material interaction often results in the formation of a sub-surface heat affected zone. The temporal brevity of ultrafast laser radiation can allow for the direct vaporization of rough surface asperities with minimal melting, offering the potential for smooth, final surface quality with negligible heat affected material. High intensities achieved in focused ultrafast laser radiation can easily induce phase changes in the bulk of materials for processing applications. We have experimentally tested the effectiveness of ultrafast laser radiation as an alternative laser source for surface processing of monocrystalline silicon. Simulation of material heating associated with ultrafast laser-material interaction has been performed and used to investigate optimized processing parameters including repetition rate. The parameter optimization process and results of experimental processing will be presented.

This paper reports the stress-induced birefringence generated in an optical fiber using femtosecond laser (fs) irradiations and the fabrication of in-fiber waveplates and polarizers. Optical birefringence was created in a single-mode fiber by introducing a series of symmetric cuboid stress rods on both sides of the fiber core and along the fiber axis using a femtosecond laser. The stress-induced birefringence was estimated to be 2.4×10^-4 at the optical wavelength of 1550 nm. By controlling the length of the stress rods, waveplates of the desired retardance can be fabricated. The stress-induced birefringence was further explored to fabricate in-fiber polarizers based on the polarization-dependent long-period fiber grating (LPFG) structure. For the in-fiber polarizer based on low order mode LPFG, a polarization extinction ratio of more than 25 dB was observed at the wavelength of 1527.8 nm. A high order mode LPFG based in-fiber polarizer, with a broad bandwidth of 100 nm near 1550 nm, was investigated as well. The in-fiber polarization devices with low insertion loss may be useful in optical communications and fiber optic sensing applications.

Femtosecond direct laser writing has recently shown great potential for the fabrication of complex integrated devices in the cladding of optical fibers. Such devices have the advantage of requiring no bulk optical components and no breaks in the fiber path, thus reducing the need for complicated alignment, eliminating contamination, and increasing stability. This technology has already found applications using combinations of Bragg gratings, interferometers, and couplers for the fabrication of optical filters, sensors, and power monitors. The femtosecond laser writing method produces a local modification of refractive index through non-linear absorption of the ultrafast laser pulses inside the dielectric material of both the core and cladding of the fiber. However, fiber geometries that incorporate air or hollow structures, such as photonic crystal fibers (PCFs), still present a challenge since the index modification regions created by the writing process cannot be generated in the hollow regions of the fiber. In this work, the femtosecond laser method is used together with a pre-modification method that consists of partially collapsing the hollow holes using an electrical arc discharge. The partial collapse of the photonic band gap structure provides a path for femtosecond laser written waveguides to couple light from the core to the edge of the fiber for in-line power monitoring. This novel approach is expected to have applications in other specialty fibers such as suspended core fibers and can open the way for the integration of complex devices and facilitate miniaturization of optical circuits to take advantage of the particular characteristics of the PCFs.

The photodynamic therapy (PDT) enables selective treatment of cancerous tissue with light inside the human body. Optical fibers deliver the light into the cancerous tissue and diffusors that are attached to the ends of the fibers scatter the light inside the tumor. In order to destroy the entire cancerous tissue, the emission profile should be uniform along the fiber. Such fiber diffusors can be fabricated directly at the fiber end by ablating light-scattering cavities with fs-pulses around the tip using a combination of scanner and rotation axis. These cavities must be designed such that the lig ht distribution is uniform along the diffusor.

Femtosecond laser-dielectric interaction in a three-dimensional (3D) manner defines a capable platform for integrated 3D micro-devices fabricated out of a single piece of system-material. Here, we add a new function to femtosecond laserbased single monolith in amorphous fused silica by demonstrating a transparent 3D micro-actuator using non-ablative femtosecond laser micromachining with subsequent chemical etching. The actuation principle is based on dielectrophoresis (DEP), defined as the unbalanced electrostatic action on dielectrics, due to an induced dipole moment under a non-uniform electric field. An analytical model of this actuation scheme is proposed, which is capable of performance prediction, design parameter optimization and motion instability analysis. Furthermore, the static and dynamic performances are experimentally characterized using optical measurement methods. An actuation range of 30 μm is well attainable; resonances and the settling time in transient responses are measured; the quality factor and the bandwidth for the primary vertical resonance are also evaluated. Experimental results are in good consistence with theoretical analyses. The proposed actuation principle suppresses the need for electrodes on the mobile, non-conductive component and is particularly interesting for moving transparent elements. Thanks to the flexibility of femtosecond laser manufacturing process, this actuation scheme can be integrated in other functionalities within monolithic transparent Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) for applications like resonators, adaptive lenses and integrated photonics circuits.

Our recent progress in the development of high energy / high average power, chirped pulse amplification laser systems based on diode-pumped, cryogenically-cooled Yb:YAG amplifiers is discussed, including the demonstration of a laser that produces 1 Joule, sub-10 picosecond duration, λ = 1.03μm pulses at 500 Hz repetition rate. This compact, all-diodepumped laser combines a mode-locked Yb:KYW oscillator and a water-cooled Yb:YAG preamplifer with two cryogenic power amplification stages to produce 1.5 Joule pulses with high beam quality which are subsequently compressed. This laser system occupies an optical table area of less than 1.5x3m². This laser was employed to pump plasma-based soft x-ray lasers at λ = 10-20nm at repetition rates ≥100 Hz. To accomplish this, temporally-shaped pulses were focused at grazing incidence into a high aspect ratio line focus using cylindrical optics on a high shot capacity rotating metal target. This results in an elongated plasma amplifier that produces microjoule pulses at several narrow-linewidth EUV wavelengths between λ = 109Å and 189Å. The resulting fraction of a milliwatt average powers are the highest reported to date for a compact, coherent source operating at these wavelengths, to the best of our knowledge.

The unique properties of ultrafast laser pulses pave the way to numerous novel applications. Particularly lasers in the sub-pico second regime, i.e. femtosecond lasers, in the last decade arrived at a level of reliability suitable for the industrial environment and now gain an increasing recognition since these pulse durations combine the advantages of precise ablation with higher efficiency especially in the case of processing metallic materials. However, for some micro processing applications the infrared wavelength of these lasers is still a limiting factor. Thus, to further broaden the range of possible applications, industrial femtosecond lasers should combine the advantages of femtosecond pulses and shorter wavelengths. To that extend, we present results obtained with a frequency doubled TruMicro 5000 FemtoEdition. We show that depending on the processed material, the higher photon energy as well as tighter focusing options of the shorter wavelength can open up a new regime of processing parameters. This regime is not accessible by infrared light, leading to a wider range of possible applications.

Glass cutting is a subject of high interest for flat panel display and consumer electronics industries. Among laser-based, water jet-based and diamond tool-based existing solutions, ultra-short pulses (USP) appear as a promising technology since this laser technology has the unique capacity to produce highly localized bulk modification owing to non-linear absorption. The cutting using USP lasers could be performed either by full ablation which is slow and generates a lot of dust, by controlled fracture propagation which is slow as well and may lead to path deviation, by stealth dicing which produces rough sidewalls, or by self-breaking induced by in-volume laser irradiation. The laser treatment is often continuous which is not necessary to perform glass cutting and may lead to over-exposure. In this paper we report on single pass glass and sapphire cutting using an USP laser (20W @200kHz or 8W@2MHz) using dash line laser treatment along the cutting trajectory. In-volume energy deposition was done along the glass thickness owing to a Bessel beam. The results will be discussed in terms of sidewall profile and roughness, path deviation, rim sharpness, energy dose and feed rate. Dash line treatment enables to tune the energy deposition and to produce the cutting effect but with a narrower heat affected zone, a better sidewall quality and a more accurate trajectory control of the cutting path.

The focusing of ultrashort laser pulses is extremely important for processes including microscopy, laser fabrication and fundamental science. Adaptive optic elements, such as liquid crystal spatial light modulators or membrane deformable mirrors, are routinely used for the correction of aberrations in these systems, leading to improved resolution and efficiency. Here, we demonstrate that adaptive elements used with ultrashort pulses should not be considered simply in terms of wavefront modification, but that changes to the incident pulse front can also occur. We experimentally show how adaptive elements may be used to engineer pulse fronts with spatial resolution.

This paper focuses on precision machining of transparent materials by means of ablative and non-ablative femtosecond laser processing. Ablation technology will be compared with a newly developed patent pending non-ablative femtosecond process, ClearShape^TM, using the Spectra-Physics Spirit industrial femtosecond laser.

The class of ultra-short-pulse (USP) laser sources are used, whenever high precession and high quality material processing is demanded. These laser sources deliver pulse duration in the range of ps to fs and are characterized with high peak intensities leading to a direct vaporization of the material with a minimum thermal damage. With the availability of industrial laser source with an average power of up to 1000W, the main challenge consist of the effective energy distribution and disposition. Using lasers with high repetition rates in the MHz region can cause thermal issues like overheating, melt production and low ablation quality.

In this paper, we will discuss different approaches for multibeam processing for utilization of high pulse energies. The combination of diffractive optics and conventional galvometer scanner can be used for high throughput laser ablation, but are limited in the optical qualities. We will show which applications can benefit from this hybrid optic and which improvements in productivity are expected. In addition, the optical limitations of the system will be compiled, in order to evaluate the suitability of this approach for any given application.

We analyze the use of bursts of ultra-short pulses in order to improve drilling efficiency and quality. Silicon is used as a non-transparent model material, in which the behavior of laser percussion drilling with 1030 nm bursts consisting of 200 fs pulses separated by a time delay between 1 ps and 4 ns was investigated. The deep drilling process is directly imaged perpendicular to the drilling direction using a CCD camera and an illumination beam at 1064 nm, where the silicon sample is transparent. The results are compared to drilling without bursts for different pulse energies. The efficiency of the drilling process, hole quality, as well as reproducibility of the hole shape are analyzed.

Pulse separation times within the burst from 1 ps to 8 ps result in deeper holes with a larger silhouette area, however equal or reduced hole quality and reproducibility compared to drilling with individual pulses. In contrast with pulse separation times from 510 ps to 4 ns a quality and reproducibility improvement is visible. For these delay times the achieved depth was equal or higher compared to micromachining without bursts.

Laser processes for cutting, modification and structuring of energy storage materials such as electrodes, separator materials and current collectors have a great potential in order to minimize the fabrication costs and to increase the performance and operational lifetime of high power lithium-ion-batteries applicable for stand-alone electric energy storage devices and electric vehicles.

Laser direct patterning of battery materials enable a rather new technical approach in order to adjust 3D surface architectures and porosity of composite electrode materials such as LiCoO₂, LiMn₂O₄, LiFePO₄, Li(NiMnCo)O₂, and Silicon. The architecture design, the increase of active surface area, and the porosity of electrodes or separator layers can be controlled by laser processes and it was shown that a huge impact on electrolyte wetting, lithium-ion diffusion kinetics, cell life-time and cycling stability can be achieved.

In general, the ultrafast laser processing can be used for precise surface texturing of battery materials. Nevertheless, regarding cost-efficient production also nanosecond laser material processing can be successfully applied for selected types of energy storage materials. A new concept for an advanced battery manufacturing including laser materials processing is presented. For developing an optimized 3D architecture for high power composite thick film electrodes electrochemical analytics and post mortem analytics using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy were performed. Based on mapping of lithium in composite electrodes, an analytical approach for studying chemical degradation in structured and unstructured lithium-ion batteries will be presented.

Ultrafast Lasers have been proven for several micro applications, e.g. stent cutting, for many years. Within its development of applications Jenoptik has started to use ultrafast lasers in macro applications in the automotive industry. The JenLas D2.fs-lasers with power output control via AOM is an ideal tool for closed loop controlled material processing. Jenoptik enhanced his well established sensor controlled laser weakening process for airbag covers to a new level. The patented process enables new materials using this kind of technology. One of the most sensitive cover materials is genuine leather. As a natural product it is extremely inhomogeneous and sensitive for any type of thermal load. The combination of femtosecond pulse ablation and closed loop control by multiple sensor array opens the door to a new quality level of defined weakening. Due to the fact, that the beam is directed by scanning equipment the process can be split in multiple cycles additionally reducing the local energy input. The development used the 5W model as well as the latest 10W release of JenLas D2.fs and achieved amazing processing speeds which directly fulfilled the requirements of the automotive industry. Having in mind that the average cycle time of automotive processes is about 60s, trials had been done of processing weakening lines in genuine leather of 1.2mm thickness. Parameters had been about 15 cycles with 300mm/s respectively resulting in an average speed of 20mm/s and a cycle time even below 60s. First samples had already given into functional and aging tests and passed successfully.

Cold laser materials processing using ultra short pulsed lasers has become one of the most promising new technologies for high-precision cutting, ablation, drilling and marking of almost all types of material, without causing unwanted thermal damage to the part. These characteristics have opened up new application areas and materials for laser processing, allowing previously impossible features to be created and also reducing the amount of post-processing required to an absolute minimum, saving time and cost.

However, short pulse widths are only one part of thee story for industrial manufacturing processes which focus on total costs and maximum productivity and production yield. Like every other production tool, ultra-short pulse lasers have too provide high quality results with maximum reliability. Robustness and global on-site support are vital factors, as well ass easy system integration.

Ultrafast laser micro-machining relies on complex laser-matter interaction processes, leading to a virtually athermal laser ablation. The development of industrial ultrafast laser applications benefits from a better understanding of these processes. To this end, a number of sophisticated scientific models have been developed, providing valuable insights in the physics of the interaction. Yet, from an engineering point of view, they are often difficult to use, and require a number of adjustable parameters.

We present a simple engineering model for ultrafast laser processing, applied in various real life applications: percussion drilling, line engraving, and non normal incidence trepanning. The model requires only two global parameters. Analytical results are derived for single pulse percussion drilling or simple pass engraving. Simple assumptions allow to predict the effect of non normal incident beams to obtain key parameters for trepanning drilling. The model is compared to experimental data on stainless steel with a wide range of laser characteristics (time duration, repetition rate, pulse energy) and machining conditions (sample or beam speed). Ablation depth and volume ablation rate are modeled for pulse durations from 100 fs to 1 ps. Trepanning time of 5.4 s with a conicity of 0.15° is obtained for a hole of 900 μm depth and 100 μm diameter.

We report on an experimental investigation of ultrafast laser ablation of silicon with bursts of pulses. The pristine 1030nm-wavelength 200-fs pulses were split into bursts of up to 16 sub-pulses with time separation ranging from 0.5ps to 4080ps. The total ablation threshold fluence was measured depending on the burst features, finding that it strongly increases with the number of sub-pulses for longer sub-pulse delays, while a slowly increasing trend is observed for shorter separation time. The ablation depth per burst follows two different trends according to the time separation between the sub-pulses, as well as the total threshold fluence. For delays shorter than 4ps it decreases with the number of pulses, while for time separations longer than 510ps, deeper craters were achieved by increasing the number of subpulses in the burst, probably due to a change of the effective penetration depth.

Laser processing of optically transparent or semi-transparent, brittle materials is finding wide use in various manufacturing sectors. For example, in consumer electronic devices such as smartphones or tablets, cover glass needs to be cut precisely in various shapes. The unique advantage of material processing with femtosecond lasers is efficient, fast and localized energy deposition in nearly all types of solid materials. When an ultra-short laser pulse is focused inside glass, only the localized region in the neighborhood of the focal volume absorbs laser energy by nonlinear optical absorption. Therefore, the processing volume is strongly defined, while the rest of the target stays unaffected. Thus ultra-short pulse lasers allow cutting of the chemically strengthened glasses such as Corning Gorilla glass without cracking. Non-ablative cutting of transparent, brittle materials, using the newly developed femtosecond process ClearShape^TM from Spectra-Physics, is based on producing a micron-sized material modification track with well-defined geometry inside. The key point for development of the process is to understand the induced modification by a single femtosecond laser shot. In this paper, pump-probe microscopy techniques have been applied to study the defect formation inside of transparent materials, namely soda-lime glass samples, on a time scale between one nanosecond to several tens of microseconds. The observed effects include acoustic wave propagation as well as mechanical stress formation in the bulk of the glass. Besides better understanding of underlying physical mechanisms, our experimental observations have enabled us to find optimal process parameters for the glass cutting application and lead to better quality and speed for the ClearShape^TM process.

The potential of few-cycle pulses for bulk microprocessing of fused silica in tight focusing conditions is explored. Few-cycle pulses emitted from a non-collinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) delivering sub-7 fs laser pulses at a repetition rate of 400 kHz with a pulse energy up to 10 μJ are focused in the bulk of fused silica sample. The focusing apparatus is a high numerical aperture (NA = 0.5), all-reflective microscope objective. The characterization of the photoinduced microstructures in spatial light interference microscopy reveals that few-cycle pulses offer an unprecedented flexibility for producing Type I structures, characterized by a uniform refractive index (higher than the refractive index of the pristine bulk) and the absence of damage in the vicinity of the microprocessing region.

Femtosecond pulses used in the regime where self-organized patterns are found have two noticeable effects in amorphous silica’s (a-SiO₂) optical and chemical properties: The decrease of the material’s refractive index as well as an enhanced etching selectivity. However, the effect on the material mechanical properties is unexplored. In this paper, we present elastic modulus measurements of fused silica exposed to femtosecond laser pulses in the regime where nanogratings are found. The measurement principle is based on the use of femtosecond laser fabricated displacement amplification mechanism combined with a discrete stiffness model. In this laser exposure regime, a significant decrease of the elastic modulus is observed. Our findings are consistent with the existence of a porous structure found within nanogratings lamellas.

We have investigated the permanent refractive index changes inside fused silica glass after laser inscription of waveguides using ultrashort laser pulses at different wavelengths. To this end the laser frequency was detuned using an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) combined with a confocal arrangement (for cleaning the laser Gaussian spatial profile). The suitability for waveguiding and the refractive index changes were inspected by measuring the near- and farfield output profiles of the laser-machined lines using a continuous wave laser at 660 nm. Raman spectroscopy was performed both for tracks of damage and for good optical waveguides. The structural changes were inferred from peak shifts and relative intensity fluctuations associated with representative Raman bands. In fused silica, changes in the 605 cm^-1 peak, which is due to 3-membered Si-O ring structures, were monitored. Since the laser photon energy rules the order, k, of the multiphoton absorption in dielectrics, the role of the laser wavelength for waveguide fabrication will be discussed in terms of different powers of the laser intensity (I(r,z)^k(λ)) and the Keldysh formalism for strong field ionization (W_SFI(λ)).

Three-mol% yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (3Y-TZP) is a fine engineering ceramic that offers high fracture resistance and flexural strength. Thus, it is often applied in mechanical components and medical implants. The surface roughness can be controlled to improve the device characters in some applications. Ultrashort pulse lasers can form laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on 3Y-TZP, which have never been investigated in detail. Therefore, this paper reports the formation and characteristics of LIPSS formed on 3Y-TZP, focusing on the pulsewidth dependence. The LIPSS was formed by a Ti:sapphire chirped-pulse amplification system, which generates 810 nmcentered 80-fs pulses at a 570 Hz repetition rate. The measured ablation threshold peak fluence was ~1.5 J/cm² and the LIPSS was formed at the peak fluence of 2.7–7.7 J/cm². For linearly polarized pulses, the lines of the LIPSS were oriented parallel to the polarization direction, and their period was comparable to or larger than the center wavelength of the laser. These characteristics differ from the reported characteristics of LIPSS on metals and dielectrics. The pulsewidth dependence of the ablation and LIPSS was investigated for different pulsewidths and signs of chirp. Under the investigated fluence condition, the LIPSS period increased with increasing pulsewidth for both signs of chirp. Similar pulsewidth dependencies were observed for circularly polarized pulses.

Ultrafast pulsed lasers are a promising tool for precise and noninvasive tissue surgery. The high peak intensity of the pulses allows nonlinear interaction with tissue, causing three-dimensional confined ablation without thermal damage. However, deep tissue ablation has been limited to a few scattering lengths due to laser beam extinction. As pulse energies are increased to overcome attenuation, unwanted side effects can occur such as self-focusing, where the highly intense pulse alters the refractive index of the material, causing a lensing effect and long filaments of damage or complete beam collapse before the focus. Here, we examine laser parameters to overcome self-focusing for deep tissue ablation. Through imaging ablation voids with third harmonic generation, we show that increasing the pulse width from 200-fs to 2-ps reduces self-focusing induced focal plane shifting and avoids multiple filamentation altogether, resulting in deeper ablation without extended axial damage. Additionally, we simulate beam propagation for pulses of different central wavelengths, and show that longer wavelengths can ablate deeper because of decreased scattering in tissue and a subsequent reduction in self-focusing.