English: A photo taken with a modern optical microscope of the surface of a birch veneer with a hole shot with a 40W CO2 laser. As can be seen from the picture, the hole is quite round, which indicates a good focus of the laser beam. This is also confirmed by the fact that very little material has charred around the hole. The optical microscope Eclipse LV150 (Nikon) of the Film Technology Laboratory of the Institute of Physics of the University of Tartu was used for the image.