Micro-machining of silicon wafer in air and under water

Laser ablation micro-machining tests are conducted on silicon wafer, both in air and under flowing water stream, with the use of 355 nm-X AVIA laser. Effects of laser pulse frequency, power level, scan velocity and focal plane position on the associated laser spatter deposition (in air), irradiated areas (under flowing water film) and taper are investigated. It shows that low frequency, i.e. 30–40 kHz, and high peak power result in smaller spatter and irradiated areas, and the hole taper decreases with increase in pulse frequency. Increase in the laser fluence broadens both the areas and increases the hole taper. Both areas enlarge with the increase of scanning velocity of more than 3 mm s^?1. The scan velocity has no effect on hole taper in air environment but inconsistent hole taper is obtained under flowing water stream. Furthermore, moving the focal plane position below the workpiece surface contributes relatively smaller areas of spatter deposition, irradiation and taper in comparison to zero focal plane position. Finally, the differences between laser ablation in air and under water are identified. The reduction in the spatter deposition and irradiated areas around the perimeter of the ablated hole and a smaller taper with the use of laser trepan drilling method in air and under water machining are investigated in this paper.     

The influence of temporal pulse train modulation during laser percussion drilling

The temporal pulse train modulation during laser percussion drilling was found to effect significant changes to the material ejection processes. In particular, distinct differences in the material ejection processes have been observed between a temporal pulse train shaping technique termed as sequential pulse delivery pattern control (SPDPC) and the normal delivery pattern (NDP), wherein the parameters of successive laser pulses were constant. Due to the reduced upward material removal fractions in SPDPC drilling, the spatter deposition area was reduced from approximately 6.7 to 2.7 mm². In addition, the melt layer thicknesses at the hole bottom were significantly increased from 11–61 to 18–369 μm. Such changes were identified as being due to the low laser pulse intensities before beam breakthrough associated with the SPDPC method. It was observed that the use of the linearly increasing SPDPC method increased the downward material removal fractions, from 20% to 28% observed in NDP drilling, to 34%–39%. Such an increase in the downward material ejection mechanism in SPDPC drilling was identified as being primarily due to the pointed blind-hole profile generated before the onset of beam breakthrough. The work has shown that modulating the entire pulse train in laser percussion drilling could control the material ejection processes. Furthermore, the fundamental elements of the SPDPC technique are given in terms of the rate of energy deposition and total pulse train energy.     

Femtosecond pulsed laser ablation of thin gold film

Laser micromachining on 1000 nm-thick gold film using femtosecond laser has been studied. The laser pulses that are used for this study are 400 nm in central wavelength, 150 fs in pulse duration, and the repetition rate is 1 kHz. Plano-concave lens with a focal length of 19 mm focuses the laser beam into a spot of 3 μm (1/e² diameter). The sample was translated at a linear speed of 400 μm/s during machining. Grooves were cut on gold thin film with laser pulses of various energies. The ablation depths were measured and plotted. There are two ablation regimes. In the first regime, the cutting is very shallow and the edges are free of molten material. While in the second regime, molten material appears and the cutting edges are contaminated. The results suggest that clean and precise microstructuring can be achieved with femtosecond pulsed laser by controlling the pulse energy in the first ablation regime.     

1444-nm Q-switched pulse generator based on Nd:YAG/V:YAG microchip laser

Q-switched microchip laser emitting radiation at eye-safe wavelength 1444 nm was designed and realized. This laser was based on composite crystal which consists of 4 mm long Nd:YAG active medium diffusion bonded with 1 mm long V:YAG saturable absorber. The diameter of the composite crystal was 5 mm. The initial transmission of the V:YAG part was T ₀ = 94% @ 1440 nm. The microchip resonator consists of dielectric mirrors, directly deposited onto the composite crystal surfaces. These mirrors were specially designed to ensure desired emission at 1444 nm and to prevent parasitic lasing at other Nd³⁺ transmissions. The output coupler with reflectivity 94% for the generated wavelength 1444 nm was placed on the V³⁺-doped part. The laser was operating under pulsed pumping for the duty-cycle up to 50%. With increasing value of mean pumping power a strong decrease of generated pulse length was observed. The shortest generated pulses were 4.2 ns long (FWHM). Stable pulses with energy 34 μJ were generated with repetition rate up to 1.5 kHz. Corresponding pulse peak power was 8.2 kW. The wavelength of linearly polarized TEM₀₀ laser mode was fixed to 1444 nm.     

Characterization of collisionally pumped optical-field-ionization soft X-ray lasers

We give an overview of recent experimental results on optical-field-ionization collisional soft X-ray lasers developed at LOA. By focusing a 30-fs, circularly polarized Ti-sapphire laser pulse at an intensity of up to 8×10¹⁷ Wcm^-2 into a low-density gas cell containing Xe or Kr, we produced a few mm long plasma column for soft X-ray amplifier. Saturated amplification has been achieved on the 4d⁹5d(¹S₀)–4d⁹5p(¹P₁) transition at 41.8 nm in Xe⁸⁺, and on the 3d⁹4d(¹S₀)–3d⁹4p(¹P₁) transition in Kr⁸⁺ at 32.8 nm. Under optimum pumping conditions the Xe⁸⁺ laser provides about (5±2)×10⁹ photons per pulse whilst the Kr⁸⁺ laser delivers up to (2.5±1)×10⁹ photons per shot. The repetition rate of these soft X-ray lasers is 10 Hz. The beam wavefront of the Xe⁸⁺ laser has been measured by a Shack–Hartmann soft X-ray wavefront sensor, and the pulse duration by a cross-correlation technique. PACS 42.55.Vc; 32.30.Rj; 52.50.Jm     

Effect of laser irradiation on the electrical properties of dysprosium doped LiCo-Ferrite

The effect of laser irradiation on the electrical properties of Li_0.5+z Co _z Dy _x Fe_2.5?2z?x O₄ ferrite (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.2, z = 0.1) has been studied in the temperature range 300 K ≤ T ≤ 750 K at frequencies of 10 kHz?5 MHz, using a LIMO-IR laser diode, at a wavelength of 808 nm. It was found that laser irradiation increases the polarization, the resistivity and the paramagnetic region. As the result of electronic rearrangement and lattice defects, small polorons and clusters were created. The doping of LiCo-Ferrite by Dy³⁺ increases both the AC and DC resistance of the investigated material. The variation of the AC and DC resistance with the Dy-content (x) obeys the following correlations R _ac/100 = 50x ²+4x+0.005 and R _dc/1000 = 31x ²+0.099x+0.09, respectively. A peculiar behaviour was obtained for the sample with Dy-content x = 0.075, as the resistance notably decreases. The applicable result is that laser irradiation increases the resistance of LiCo-ferrite by about 17% while its doping by dysprosium at x = 0.15 increases the resistance by about 23%. Its value is nearly stable for the temperature range from 340 to 480 K.     

Entropy generation rate during laser pulse heating: Effect of laser pulse parameters on entropy generation rate

Laser pulse heating of solid surface and entropy generation during the heating process are considered. Time exponentially decaying pulse is accommodated in the analysis and the laser pulse parameter (β₁/β₂) resulting in minimum entropy generation rate is computed. Analytical solutions for temperature rise are presented and volumetric entropy generation rate is formulated. Two laser pulses resulting in low volumetric entropy generation rate are examined in detail and volumetric entropy generation rate is associated with the laser pulse parameter (β₁/β₂). It is found that volumetric entropy generation rate attains high values in the early heating period due to large (1/T²). Moreover, the laser pulse with high-peak intensity results in lower volumetric entropy generation rate than that corresponding to the low-intensity laser pulse with the same energy content.     

X‐ray photon correlation spectroscopy in systems without long‐range order: existence of an intermediate‐field regime

Successful X‐ray photon correlation spectroscopy studies often require that signals be optimized while minimizing power density in the sample to decrease radiation damage and, at free‐electron laser sources, thermal impact. This suggests exploration of scattering outside the Fraunhofer far‐field diffraction limit d²/λR, where d is the incident beam size, λ is the photon wavelength and R is the sample‐to‐detector distance. Here it is shown that, in an intermediate regime d²/λ > Rdξ/λ, where ξ is the structural correlation length in the material, the ensemble averages of the scattered intensity and of the structure factor are equal. Similarly, in the regime d²/λ > Rdξ(τ)/λ, where ξ(τ) is a time‐dependent dynamics length scale of interest, the ensemble‐averaged correlation functions g₁(τ) and g₂(τ) of the scattered electric field are also equal to their values in the far‐field limit. This broadens the parameter space for X‐ray photon correlation spectroscopy experiments, but detectors with smaller pixel size and variable focusing are required to more fully exploit the potential for such studies.     

激光诱导等离子体开关控制脉宽实验研究

 利用激光诱导等离子体开关技术，在1 064 nm的Nd：YAG固体激光器上获得了脉宽4.4~6.4 ns的短脉冲激光输出。激光电离空气产生的等离子体开关控制脉冲宽度时，聚焦透镜焦距越短，压缩后的脉宽越窄，但激光能量损耗越大。压缩后的激光脉宽与激光能量近似成双曲线关系。在控制脉宽光路的焦点处放置带孔的Cu薄片可抑制等离子体的扩散，得到了脉宽最短可达4.4 ns的激光输出。     

Effect of lateral energy transport on ablation pressure scaling in laser irradiated planar foil targets

Experimental investigations on ablatively accelerated thin plastic foil targets irradiated by a 6J, 5 nsec Nd: glass laser pulse, were conducted using shadowgraphy technique. A 2 nsec, 0.53 μm probe pulse, derived from the main laser was used for recording the foil motion. It was observed that 6 μm plastic foils could be accelerated to a velocity of about 3 × 10⁶ cm/sec for an incident laser intensity of 5 × 10¹³ W/cm² and the corresponding ablation pressure was 0.4 Mbar. Ablation pressure (P) scaling against absorbed laser intensity (I _a ) was slower (P ∝I _a ^0.4 ) for a smaller laser focal spot (30 μm) as compared to the scaling (P ∝I _a ^0.7 ) for a larger focal spot (500 μm). This result has been explained considering the loss due to lateral energy transport from the laser plasma interaction region.     

Excimer laser processing of ZnO thin films prepared by the sol-gel process

ZnO thin films were prepared on soda-lime glass from a single spin-coating deposition of a sol-gel prepared with anhydrous zinc acetate [Zn(C₂H₃O₂)₂], monoethanolamine [H₂NC₂H₄OH] and isopropanol. The deposited films were dried at 50 and 300 °C. X-ray analysis showed that the films were amorphous. Laser annealing was performed using an excimer laser. The laser pulse repetition rate was 25 Hz with a pulse energy of 5.9 mJ, giving a fluence of 225 mJ cm⁻² on the ZnO film. Typically, five laser pulses per unit area of the film were used. After laser processing, the hexagonal wurtzite phase of zinc oxide was observed from X-ray diffraction pattern analysis. The thin films had a transparency of greater than 70% in the visible region. The optical band-gap energy was 3.454 eV. Scanning electron microscopy and profilometry analysis highlighted the change in morphology that occurred as a result of laser processing. This comparative study shows that our sol-gel processing route differs significantly from ZnO sol-gel films prepared by conventional furnace annealing which requires temperatures above 450 °C for the formation of crystalline ZnO.     

Accuracy control of three-dimensional Nd:YAG laser shaping by ablation

Improving the dimensional accuracy along the optical axis without decreasing the materials removing rate is a key issue in three-dimensional laser shaping. This paper presents a concept for performing three-dimensional laser shaping by directly using machining laser as the photo source of the non-contacting measuring device. Due to the high power measuring photo source and a 1.06 μm bandpass filter, the interference caused by the emission light of ablated surface can be effectively avoided, the delay time is not needed to be inserted between the laser pulse and the measurement. So the measurement will not decrease the material removal rate and productivity. By using this system, the shaping accuracy of 30 μm can be achieved at the removing rate of about 4.0×10⁻² mm³/sec for Si₃N₄ ceramic, both are much better than the results obtained before.     

Scattering of CO2 laser beam by a plasma of air breakdown at pressures of 1–300 torr

Results from experiments with a TEA CO₂ laser with an unstable cavity and a power of 10⁷ W are presented. Laser radiation was focused by a lens with a focal length of 100 or 150 mm in air free of dust (grains larger than 0.1 μm were filtered out). The power and energy of radiation scattered within a central cone of an annular laser beam was recorded. The dependences of the threshold (for scattering) laser power and the scattered power on pressure were determined. The angular divergence of the collimated scattered beam was found to be 3.9 mrad, which was close to the divergence of the laser beam (2.5 mrad). The amplification of the scattered radiation pulse was performed.     

Lifetime measurements in Tm I,Tm II,and Tm III by time-resolved laser spectroscopy

Natural radiative lifetimes of eight levels in Tm I ( 4f ¹³5d6p and 4f ¹²5d6s ² configurations), two levels in Tm II ( 4f ¹²5d6s configuration) and three levels in Tm III (4f ¹²5d configuration) have been measured by using time-resolved laser spectroscopy. Free thulium atoms, as well as singly and doubly ionized ions, were obtained in a laser-induced thulium plasma and the investigated states were selectively populated by a single-step excitation process with a tunable narrow-band laser pulse. Received 20 August 2002 / Received in final form 7 January 2003 Published online 4 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: huailiang.xu@fysik.lth.se     

Attosecond X-ray pulse obtained from linear Thomson scattering

Linear Thomson scattering by a relativistic electron of a short pulse laser has been investigated by computer simulation. Under a laser field with a pulse of 33.3-fs full-width at half-maximum, and the initial energy of an electron of γ₀=10, the motion of the electron is relativistic and generates an ultrashort radiation of 76-as with a photon wave length of 2.5-nm in the backward scattering. The radiation under a high relativistic energy electron has better characteristic than under a low relativistic energy electron in terms of the pulse width and the angular distribution.     

Effect of laser shot peening on precipitation hardened aluminum alloy 6061-T6 using low energy laser

Mechanical properties of engineering material can be improved by introducing compressive residual stress on the material surface and refinement of their microstructure. Variety of mechanical process such as shot peening, water jet peening, ultrasonic peening, laser shot peening were developed in the last decades on this contrast. Among these, lasers shot peening emerged as a novel industrial treatment to improve the crack resistance of turbine blades and the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of austenic stainless steel in power plants. In this study we successfully performed laser shot peening on precipitation hardened aluminum alloy 6061-T6 with low energy (300 mJ, 1064 nm) Nd:YAG laser using different pulse densities of 22 pulses/mm² and 32 pulses/mm². Residual stress evaluation based on X-ray diffraction sin² ψ method indicates a maximum of 190% percentage increase on surface compressive stress. Depth profile of micro-hardness shows the impact of laser generated shock wave up to 1.2 mm from the surface. Apart from that, the crystalline size and micro-strain on the laser shot peened surfaces have been investigated and compared with the unpeened surface using X-ray diffraction in conjunction with line broadening analysis through the Williamson-Hall plot.     

Ablation efficiency of α-Al2O3 in liquid phase and ambient air by nanosecond laser irradiation

Ablation efficiency and influences of laser parameters on a material removal rate by a nanosecond laser irradiation of α-Al₂O₃ are studied in gas and liquid phases. The laser ablation in the air yields maximum material removal rate of 12 ng/pulse using a 4.6-mJ pulse energy at 4-kHz repetition rate, compared to 88 ng/pulse in the water flow. Using a specific interpulse distance and a laser repetition rate further increase material removal rate by factor of 3 and 65, respectively, owing to an optimized lattice temperature and laser pulse interactions with the generated cavitation bubble. For the ablation in the air, these parameters do not significantly affect the ablation efficiency.     

Light-induced ultrafast phase transitions in VO2 thin film

Vanadium dioxide shows a passive and reversible change from a monoclinic insulator phase to a metallic tetragonal rutile structure when the sample temperature is close to and over 68 °C. As a kind of functional material, VO₂ thin films deposited on fused quartz substrates were successfully prepared by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. With laser illumination at 400 nm on the obtained films, the phase transition (PT) occurred. The observed light-induced PT was as fast as the laser pulse duration of 100 fs. Using a femtosecond laser system, the relaxation processes in VO₂ were studied by optical pump-probe spectroscopy. Upon a laser excitation an instantaneous response in the transient reflectivity and transmission was observed followed by a relatively longer relaxation process. The alteration is dependent on pump power. The change in reflectance reached a maximum value at a pump pulse energy between 7 and 14 mJ/cm². The observed PT is associated with the optical interband transition in VO₂ thin film. It suggests that with a pump laser illuminating on the film, excitation from the d_θ,? - state of valence band to the unoccupied excited mixed d_θ,?-π* - state of the conduction band in the insulator phase occurs, followed by a resonant transition to an unoccupied excited mixed d_θ,?-π* - state of the metallic phase band.     

Development of ultra-short pulse VUV laser system for nanoscale processing

We have developed intense vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation sources for advanced material processing, such as photochemical surface reactions and precise processing on a nanometer scale. We have constructed a new VUV laser system to generate sub-picosecond pulses at the wavelength of 126 nm. A seed VUV pulse was generated in Xe as the 7th harmonic of a 882-nm Ti:sapphire laser. The optimum conversion was achieved at the pressure of 1.2 Torr. The seed pulse will be amplified by the Ar₂^*\mathrm{Ar}_{2}^{*} media generated by an optical-field-induced ionization Ar plasma produced by the Ti:sapphire laser. We have obtained a gain coefficient of g=0.16 cm⁻¹. Our developing system will provide VUV ultra-short pulses with sub-μJ energy at a repetition rate of 1 kHz.     

A statistical approach to determine process parameter impact in Nd:YAG laser drilling of IN718 and Ti-6Al-4V sheets

The numerous unique advantages afforded by pulsed Nd:YAG laser systems have led to their increasing utility for producing high aspect ratio holes in a wide range of materials. Notwithstanding the growing industrial acceptance of the technique, the increasingly tighter geometrical tolerances and more stringent hole quality requirements of modern industrial components demand that “defects” such as taper, recast, spatter etc., in laser-drilled holes are minimized. Process parameters like pulse energy, pulse repetition rate, pulse duration, focal position, nozzle standoff, type of gas and gas pressure of the assist gas are known to significantly influence hole quality during laser drilling. The present study reports the use of Taguchi design of experiments technique to study the effects of the above process variables on the quality of the drilled holes and ascertain optimum processing conditions. Minimum taper in the drilled hole was considered as the desired target response. The entire study was conducted in three phases:(a) screening experiments, to identify process variables that critically influence taper in laser drilled holes, (b) Optimization experiments, to ascertain the set of parameters that would yield minimum taper and (c) validation trials, to assess the validity of the experimental procedures and results. Results indicate that laser drilling with focal position on the surface of the material being drilled and employing low level values of pulse duration and pulse energy represents the ideal conditions to achieve minimum taper in laser-drilled holes. Thorough assessment of results also reveals that the laser-drilling process, optimized considering taper in the drilled hole as the target response, leads to very significant improvements in respect of other hole quality attributes of interest such as spatter and recast as well.