Marking of lines on clay brick pavers by vitrification with a Nd:YAG laser

Laser marking of architectural materials is nowadays an attractive technique for industrial and decorative applications. We report the clay brick pavers marking by vitrification with a continuous-wave Nd:YAG laser (λ=1.064 μm), at different output powers and scan speeds of the laser beam. The marked lines resulted in a dark green glassy phase. The width, depth, and cross-section area of the lines grow with the impinging laser energy density. It was found that the energy density determines the volume per length unit of glassy phase formed. However, the width and depth of the lines can present small differences depending on the particular combination of power and speed.