Product Code: ICAL09_M308

Laser Micro Processing of Metal and Silicon Using 100Khz and 2Mhz Ultrafast Lasers
Authors:
John Lopez, Alphanov; Talence France
Charly Loumena, Alphanov; Talence France
Victor Archambault, Alphanov; Talence France
Yoann Zaouter, Amplitude Systemes; Pessac France
Alexandre Trisorio, Amplitude Systemes; Pessac France
Marc Faucon, Alphanov; Talence France
Eric Mottay, Amplitude Systemes; Pessac France
Presented at ICALEO 2009

Ultrafast laser micromachining has been widely proven to be a high quality, high flexibility process, with numerous potential, industrial applications. Indeed, femtosecond laser is a key technology for micro processing since it combines the unique capability to process any material with a reduced heat affected zone. Low pulse energy is generally required for micromachining (<100µJ). Until recently, a main drawback was the low processing speed due to the limited average power available from ultrafast lasers. Recent advances in commercial ultrafast lasers enables to overcome this limitation since there is a significantly increase of the average power available to the user. However, parallel advances in process development are required to take full advantage of these new capabilities. In this paper, we report on micromachining and engraving of metal and silicon using both crystal-based systems (4W@100kHz) and fiber lasers (15W@2MHz), operating in the picosecond and femtosecond regimes. We obtained removal rate up to 2mm3/min on metal without any burr. Processing speeds greater than 5m/s are reached with smooth and burr-free sidewalls