Beam-machining method and apparatus

摘要

A method of and apparatus for machining a workpiece such as ceramic with an energy beam, e.g. a beam of energetic ions or a laser beam, produced by a beam generator. A carriage having the workpiece securely mounted thereon and the beam generator are relatively displaced to cause the beam to move in a scanning manner along a prescribed path on the workpiece surface. An acoustic emission from the workpiece being machined is sensed by a transducer disposed in contact therewith to provide a control signal which is applied to the generator for controlling the energy or energy density of the beam and/or to a drive unit for displacing the workpiece relative to the beam generator to control the rate of relative scanning displacement between the energy beam and the workpiece.