Product Code: ICA11_M602

Efficient Use of Short Pulse Width Laser for Maximum Material Removal Rate
Authors:
Ashwini Tamhankar, Newport Corporation; Santa Clara CA USA
Rajesh Patel, Newport Corporation; Santa Clara CA USA
Presented at ICALEO 2011

Any high volume laser manufacturing process demands high throughput, improved accuracy, and minimal thermal damage to the target material. The diode pumped solid state (DPSS) Q-switched nanosecond lasers are being used routinely today for many semiconductor & microelectronics and solar cell manufacturing processes. They offer low noise, high stability, and reliability required for a robust manufacturing process. Over the past few years the energy available per pulse and the repetition rate of such lasers have increased dramatically. To make efficient use of the available higher energy and higher repetition rate for material removal, especially for a short pulse width lasers, is a challenging task. In this paper we describe two techniques to effectively use the high energy and repetition rate available from a short pulse width 355 nm DPSS Q-switched laser to maximize the material removal rate and maintain the high quality. Experimental data for ceramic scribing has been presented to demonstrate the advantages offered by the proposed techniques.