| abstract |
A method of producing a marking on diamond (15), pearl, precious or semi-precious stone. For producing the marking, the region on the surface to be marked is irradiated with an ArF excimer laser (11) whose output beam is passed through a mask (23) which defines the marking. Identification or security marks may be created. The same process can be used to produce strong and durable extrusion dies having irregular cross sections, and cross sections which vary with depth through the die material. |