A LASER MICROMACHINING SYSTEM FOR WRITING A PATTERN ONTO A SUBSTRATE USING LASER MICROMACHINING AND METHOD

摘要

The present invention is related to a system and method for writing a pattern onto a substrate using laser micromachining. The system comprises a seed laser system (11) for outputting a plurality of laser beams (a, b, c), each laser beam comprising a plurality of subsequent light pulses; a laser crystal (12) for amplifying light pulses; a pumping unit (13) for providing pumping power to the laser crystal; a first selector unit (16) configured for individually switching the laser beams outputted by the seed laser system between an active and inactive state, wherein, the first selector unit is configured to select, for each laser beam in the active state, a light pulse among the plurality of light pulses, to be passed towards the laser crystal for amplification; a light directing unit (14) for directing incident light pulses towards the substrate; a second selector unit (17) configured for selecting, for each laser beam outputted by the laser crystal, an amplified light pulse among the plurality of amplified light pulses, to be directed to the light directing unit for writing said pattern; a control unit (18) for controlling the pumping unit, the light directing unit and the first and second selector units. The method comprises the steps of: outputting a plurality of laser beams, each laser beam comprising a plurality of subsequent light pulses; providing a laser crystal for amplifying light pulses; providing pumping power to the laser crystal; individually switching the laser beams outputted by the seed laser system between an active and inactive state, wherein, for each laser beam in the active state, a light pulse among the plurality of light pulses is selected using a first selector unit to be passed towards the laser crystal for amplification; using a second selector unit for selecting, for each laser beam outputted by the laser crystal, an amplified light pulse among the plurality of amplified light pulses; directing the selected amplified light pulses towards the substrate for writing said pattern. According to the invention, individually controllable multiple laser beams are used with a single laser crystal in such a manner that multiple pulses can be applied to the substrate.