Processing of metals and semiconductors by a femtosecond laser-based microfabrication system

Michel Meunier; Bruno Fisette; Alexis Houle; Andrei V. Kabashin; Sergey V. Broude; Pascal Miller

doi:10.1117/12.478595

19 June 2003 Processing of metals and semiconductors by a femtosecond laser-based microfabrication system

Michel Meunier, Bruno Fisette, Alexis Houle, Andrei V. Kabashin, Sergey V. Broude, Pascal Miller

Proceedings Volume 4978, Commercial and Biomedical Applications of Ultrafast Lasers III; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.478595
Event: High-Power Lasers and Applications, 2003, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

A microfabrication system with the use of a femtosecond laser was designed for 3D processing of industrially important materials. The system includes a 120 fs, 1 kHz laser; beam delivery and focusing system, systems for automated 3D target motion and real-time imaging of the sample placed in a vacuum chamber. The first tests of the system on the processing of stainless steel and silicon are presented. We established thresholds and regimes of ablation for both materials. It was found that at relatively low laser fluences I < 3-5 J/cm² the regime of “gentle” ablation takes place, which is characterized by exceptional quality of the ablated surface, but slow ablation rate (< 25 nm/pulse). This regime is especially efficient for the patterning of markers on steel or silicon surfaces. The “fast” ablation regime at I > 10 J/cm² provides much higher ablation rate of 30-100 nm/pulse, giving an opportunity of fast high-quality processing of materials. This regime is well suited for drilling of through holes and fast cutting of materials. However, it was found that fast ablation regime imposes additional requirements on the quality of delivery and focusing of the laser beam because of the presence of parasitic ablation around the main spot on the tail of the radiation intensity distribution. As industrial machining examples, we demonstrate heat-affected-zone free drilling of through holes in a 50 μm thick stainless steel foil and cutting of a 50 μm thick Si wafer with a net cutting speed of 8 μm/sec.

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Michel Meunier, Bruno Fisette, Alexis Houle, Andrei V. Kabashin, Sergey V. Broude, and Pascal Miller "Processing of metals and semiconductors by a femtosecond laser-based microfabrication system", Proc. SPIE 4978, Commercial and Biomedical Applications of Ultrafast Lasers III, (19 June 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.478595

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