NEW MICRO AND NANO LASER MACHINING APPLICATIONS WITH A VERSATILE ULTRASHORT PULSE LASER SYSTEM AND DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENTS

摘要

We report on new industrial process developments andapplications using an ultrashort pulse laser system witha mean power of 15 Watt and the ability to producefemtosecond to picosecond laser pulses with high pulseenergies at 1030nm, 515 nm, 343 nm and 247 nm in asingle compact unit. Precise and reproduciblestructuring of thin-film ( CI(G)S, CdTe ) solar cells onplastic and glass substrates, scratching and isolating ofceramic substrates covered with a thin silicone film forLED manufacturing and micro-machining of metals,thin glass, ceramics and (bio)polymers for medicalapplications (e.g. stents) are discussed in detail.Additionally diffractive and refractive beam shapingoptics were used for parallel beam processingapplications and precise drilling, cutting andstructuring of thin electronic films and materials. Theresults were analyzed (optical and confocalmicroscopy, SEM) and compared with Q-switchedsolid-state and fiber laser systems regarding thermalinfluence zones and machining quality. It was foundthat by optimizing the laser parameters of theultrashort pulse laser system and using speciallydesigned optical elements new and extremely preciseindustrial manufacturing processes with minimalthermal damage were possible compared to the longerpulsed laser systems currently used in micro and nanomachining applications.