Product Code: ICAL09_M1106

Lasers in the Green Revolution
Authors:
Jie Fu, J P Sercel Associates, Inc.; Manchester NH USA
Marco Mendes, J P Sercel Associates, Inc.; Manchester NH USA
Xiangyang Song, J P Sercel Associates, Inc.; Manchester NH USA
Cristian Porneala, J P Sercel Associates, Inc.; Manchester NH USA
Matt Hannon, J P Sercel Associates, Inc.; Manchester NH USA
Jeff Sercel, J P Sercel Associates, Inc.; Manchester NH USA
Presented at ICALEO 2009

Lasers are becoming increasingly important in the current global green revolution. Two areas of particular importance are light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar cells. LEDs are poised to revolutionize the general lighting industry due to their high efficiency, long useful lifetime, and the fact that they do not contain mercury. Excimer lasers excel in applications requiring homogeneous large area beam exposure, and are ideal sources for laser lift-off that separates the active layer of LEDs from their growth substrate to produce high efficiency LEDs. Scribing and cutting by diode pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers is replacing standard mechanical methods for LED die singulation, and new techniques continue to emerge towards faster and higher quality processes. Solar power represents one of the most promising renewable energy sources. Lasers are poised to play a significant role in the current effort to lower the manufacturing costs of solar cells, while increasing their conversion efficiency and overall quality and reliability. In this paper, experimental results showing recent advances in LED manufacturing with excimer and DPSS laser, and high speed laser scribing and structuring of solar cells will be presented