A comparison of ns and ps steam laser cleaning of Si surfaces

We report a quantitative investigation on the efficiency of the steam laser cleaning process using ns and ps pulses. Well-characterized polymer particles with a diameter of 800 nm dispersed on commercial Si wafers were chosen as a modeling contaminant system. As a result of our investigation, we show for the first time the feasibility of performing efficient steam laser cleaning with ps laser pulses and compare the achieved efficiency with the one obtained for ns pulses. For ns pulses, we found a cleaning fluence threshold of 50 mJ/cm² that is independent of the pulse durations (2.5 ns and 8 ns) and the wavelengths (532 nm and 583 nm) used. The application of ps pulses (FWHM=30 ps, 5=583 nm) lowered this threshold to 20 mJ/cm². Both cleaning thresholds are far below the melting thresholds for these laser parameters. Cleaning efficiencies >90% were reached for both pulse durations.     

Influence of storage time on laser cleaning of SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> on Si

The influence of the ‘storage time’ τ_s on the threshold fluence φ_cl and the efficiency in dry laser cleaning is investigated. τ_s denotes the time between the deposition of particles and the cleaning. As a model system we employed silica spheres with diameters of 500 nm and 1500 nm on commercial silicon wafers and single-pulse KrF excimer laser radiation (τ_FWHM=28 ns). For the 1500-nm silica spheres, φ_cl was found to increase from about 65 mJ/cm² to 125 mJ/cm² for storage times of 4 h and 362 h, respectively. For 500-nm silica spheres the increase in the threshold fluence was less than 20% for storage times up to 386 h. Received: 12 July 2002 / Accepted: 12 July 2002 / Published online: 29 January 2003 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. E-mail:dieter.baeurle@jku.at     

Dual-beam ablation of fused silica by multiwavelength excitation process using KrF excimer and F2 lasers

A new technique of dual-beam laser ablation of fused silica by multiwavelength excitation process using a 248-nm KrF excimer laser (ablation beam) coupled with a 157-nm F₂ laser (excitation beam) in dry nitrogen atmosphere is reported. The dual-beam laser ablation greatly reduced debris deposition and, thus, significantly improved the ablation quality compared with single-beam ablation of the KrF laser. High-quality ablation can be achieved at the delay times of KrF excimer laser irradiation shorter than 10 ns due to a large excited-state absorption. The ablation rate can reach up to 80 nm/pulse at the fluence of 4.0 J/cm² for the 248-nm laser and 60 mJ/cm² for the F₂ laser. The ablation threshold and effective absorption coefficient of KrF excimer laser are estimated to be 1.4 J/cm² and 1.2᎒⁵ cm^-1, respectively.     

Single-shot ablation threshold of chromium using UV femtosecond laser pulses

Single-shot ablation threshold for thin chromium film was studied using 266 nm, femtosecond laser pulses. Chromium is a useful material in the nanotechnology industry and information on ablation threshold using UV femtosecond pulses would help in precise micromachining of the material. The ablation threshold was determined by measuring the ablation crater diameters as a function of incident laser pulse energy. Absorption of 266 nm light on the chromium film was also measured under our experimental conditions, and the absorbed energy single-shot ablation threshold fluence was \(46 \pm 5\)  mJ/cm². The experimental ablation threshold fluence value was compared to time-dependent heat flow calculations based on the two temperature model for ultrafast laser pulses. The model predicts a value of 31.6 mJ/cm² which is qualitatively consistent with the experimentally obtained value, given the simplicity of the model.     

Characterisation of combined positive-negative photoresists by excimer laser ablation

Novel photopolymers containing side groups based on o-methoxycinnamylidenemalonic acid, which undergo selective photo-crosslinking without destruction of the polymer backbone upon irradiation at 5>395 nm, have been developed for potential applications as combined positive-negative resists and multilayer resists. An XeCl excimer laser (5=308 nm, F=20 ns) was used as the irradiation source to study the ablation and microstructuring characteristics of the polymers. The materials were structured before and after crosslinking. The ablation rate was analysed by varying the fluence (0.01-10 J/cm²) and the number of pulses for a given irradiation area. Etch rates of about 2 7m per pulse at a fluence of 9 J/cm² could be achieved for all polymers. The polymer with triazene groups reveals a higher etch rate at low fluences (less than 300 mJ/cm²) than the polymer without a triazene group. The experimentally observed threshold fluence for the triazene-containing polymer is about 30 mJ/cm². Using a Schwarzschild-type reflection objective (152), microstructures with a resolution in the micron range were produced on both polymer films. The quality of the structures was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. The results indicate that the new polymers could be used as resists for excimer laser ablation lithography.     

Matrix laser cleaning: a new technique for the removal of nanometer sized particles from semiconductors

In this paper a new laser-based technique for the removal of nanoparticles from silicon wafers, called matrix laser cleaning, is introduced. In contrast to the already existing technique dry laser cleaning damages of the substrate can be avoided. Furthermore no liquids are used, avoiding problems that occur, e.g. in steam laser cleaning and other wet cleaning techniques. We show that damage free particle removal of polystyrene particles with diameters of at least down to 50 nm is possible with a cleaning efficiency very close to 100% within a single shot experiment. Furthermore the cleaning threshold is independent of the particle size. PACS 64.70.Hz; 68.43.Vx; 81.65.Cf     

Modelling laser cleaning of low-absorbing substrates: the effect of near-field focussing

A three-dimensional model for laser cleaning of spherical, transparent particles on low-absorbing substrates has been developed. It takes into account near-field focussing of the laser radiation by the particles. The intensity distribution under a particle was found using Mie theory together with the geometrical optics approximation. This permits the estimation of the beam width at the substrate surface and the focal distance of the radiation coming from the spherical particle. These parameters are used to find the distribution of intensity within the low-absorbing substrate from the formula for a focussed Gaussian beam. This is in contrast with most other models of laser cleaning, which assume that all absorption occurs at the surface of the substrate. The energy criterion was used to calculate the threshold fluence. The model predicts threshold fluences of the order of 10³ J/cm² for silica spheres having a diameter of the order of a micron on silica substrates, assuming adhesion by van der Waals force. As this is well above the damage threshold for silica, it effectively predicts that laser cleaning of silica spheres from silica will be impossible. For glass slides the threshold fluence is predicted to be a factor of 10^-4 times smaller than that for silica slides (about 0.1 J/cm²). This is due to the much higher absorption of glass compared to that of silica at 248 nm. PACS 42.62.Cf; 81.65.Cf     

KrF excimer laser dry and steam cleaning of silicon surfaces with metallic particulate contaminants

KrF excimer laser-assisted dry and steam cleaning of single-crystal silicon wafers contaminated with three different types of metallic particles was studied. The laser fluence used was 0.3 J/cm². In the dry process, for samples cleaned with 100 laser pulses the cleaning efficiency was 91, 71 and 59% for Au, Cu and W particles, respectively, whilst in steam cleaning the efficiency is about 100% after 5 laser pulses, independently of the type of contaminant. The effects of laser irradiation on the Si surface are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Laser processing at 0.3 J/cm² does not deteriorate the Si-wafer surface, either in dry or steam cleaning. However, the measured XPS intensity coming from the metallic component is greater on the cleaned surfaces than in the initial condition. Quantification of the XPS results, assuming a stratified overlayer model for the detected species and accounting for the presence of the metallic particles on the surface, showed that the obtained results can be explained by the formation of a fractional metallic monolayer on the cleaned surfaces, due to partial vaporisation of small particles initially present on the sample surface. This contamination of the substrate could be considered excessive for some applications and it shows that the process requires careful optimisation for the required efficiency to be achieved without degradation of the substrate. Received: 14 January 2001 / Accepted: 19 February 2001 / Published online: 20 June 2001     

Optical field enhancement effects in laser-assisted particle removal

We report on the role of local optical field enhancement in the neighborhood of particles during dry laser cleaning (DLC) of silicon wafer surfaces. Samples covered with spherical colloidal particles (PS, SiO₂) and arbitrarily shaped Al₂O₃ particles with diameters from 320–1700 nm were cleaned using laser pulses with durations from 150 fs to 6.5 ns and wavelengths ranging from 400–800 nm. Cleaned areas were investigated with scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. Holes in the substrate with diameters of 200–400 nm and depths of 10–80 nm, depending on the irradiation conditions, were found at the former positions of the particles. For all pulse durations analyzed (fs, ps, ns), holes are created at laser fluences as small as the threshold fluence. Calculations of the optical field intensities in the particles’ neighbourhood by applying Mie theory suggest that enhancement of the incident laser intensity in the near field of the particles is responsible for these effects. DLC for sub-ns pulses seems to be governed by the local ablation of the substrate rather than by surface acceleration. Received: 31 May 2000 / Accepted: 7 September 2000 / Published online: 22 November 2000     

Ultraviolet photoablation of a plasma-synthesized fluorocarbon polymer

Plasma polymerized tetrafluoroethylene (PPTFE) is shown to undergo efficient 248 nm excimer laser ablation. The principle difference between this material and the analogous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which results in only poor quality ablation, is PPTFE's much greater absorption coefficient (7×10⁴ vs. 10² cm^–1). A plot of the ablation depth per pulse versus incident fluence indicates that the threshold for significant ablation occurs near 50 mJ/cm², and that approximately 0.7 m/pulse can be removed at 800 mJ/cm². Near threshold, the ablation rate curve can be fit by a single Arrhenius-type exponential. This suggests that the removal process is at least partially governed by a photothermal process, similar to well-known laser induced thermal desorption experiments. In the very low fluence regime between 10 and 30 mJ/cm², small removal rates are measured in a process likely dominated by non-thermal ablation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the high quality, micron-size features that can be directly patterned into PPTFE surfaces.     

A comparison of the electron component within laser-ablated titanium plumes formed by UV and visible lasers

A Langmuir probe was used as a diagnostic of the temporally evolving electron number densities within a low-temperature laser-ablated titanium plasma expanding in vacuum. Measurements were made following ablation by a KrF excimer laser (248 nm, F=30 ns) and a frequency-doubled Nd:YAG laser (532 nm, F=7.5 ns) for laser power densities between 85 MW cm^-2 and 1130 MW cm^-2 on target. Electron number density data were obtained from the saturation electron current region of the probe (I/V) characteristic. Peak electron number densities in the range 1.5᎒¹⁰ cm^-3 to 1.5᎒¹³ cm^-3 were measured, at a distance of 5 cm along the target normal, for the laser power range investigated. Above ablation threshold the temporally integrated electron flux increased linearly with incident power density for both ablation wavelengths. The ablation thresholds, in terms of peak power density within the laser spot on the target, were found to be 85ᆨ MW cm^-2 for KrF ablation and 300ᇆ MW cm^-2for 2P YAG ablation.     

Picosecond laser ablation of thin copper films

The ablation process of thin copper films on fused silica by picosecond laser pulses is investigated. The ablation area is characterized using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The single-shot ablation threshold fluence for 40 ps laser pulses at 1053 nm has been determinated toF _thres = 172 mJ/cm². The ablation rate per pulse is measured as a function of intensity in the range of 5 × 10⁹ to 2 × 10¹¹ W/cm² and changes from 80 to 250 nm with increasing intensity. The experimental ablation rate per pulse is compared to heat-flow calculations based on the two-temperature model for ultrafast laser heating. Possible applications of picosecond laser radiation for microstructuring of different materials are discussed.     

Single and multiple shot near-infrared femtosecond laser pulse ablation thresholds of copper

The single-shot ablation threshold and incubation coefficient of copper were investigated using an amplified near-infrared, femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. To date, the near-infrared femtosecond ablation threshold of copper has been reported in the range of several hundred millijoules per cm² based primarily on multiple shot ablation studies. A careful study of the single shot ablation threshold for copper was carried out yielding an incident single-shot ablation threshold of (1.06±0.12) J/cm² for a clean copper foil surface. This was determined by measuring the diameters of the ablation spots as a function of the laser pulse energy using scanning electron microscopy for spatially Gaussian laser spots. When multiple shots were taken on the same spot, a reduction in ablation threshold was observed, consistent with a multiple shot incubation coefficient of 0.76±0.02. Similar experiments on 250 nm and 500 nm copper thin films sputtered on a silicon substrate demonstrated that scaling the threshold values with the absorbance of energy at the surface yields a consistent absorbed fluence threshold for copper of (59±10) mJ/cm². This absorbed threshold value is consistent with the expected value from a two-temperature model for the heating of copper with an electron-lattice coupling constant of g=10¹⁷ Wm^-3 K^-1. Single-shot rippling of the surface in the threshold ablation intensity regime was also observed for the foil target but not for the smooth thin film target. PACS 61.80.Ba; 61.82.Bg     

Ultra fast melting process in femtosecond laser crystallization of thin a-Si layer

In this paper, we investigated the mechanism of crystallization induced by femtosecond laser irradiation for an amorphous Si (a-Si) thin layer on a crystalline Si (c-Si) substrate. The fundamental, SHG, THG wavelength of a Ti:Sapphire laser was used for the crystallization process. To investigate the processed areas we performed Laser Scanning Microscopy (LSM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Imaging Pump-Probe measurements. Except for 267 nm femtosecond laser irradiation, the crystallization occurred well. The threshold fluences for the crystallization using 800 nm and 400 nm femtosecond laser irradiations were 100 mJ/cm² and 30 mJ/cm², respectively. TEM observation revealed that the crystallization occurred by epitaxial growth from the boundary surface between the a-Si layer and c-Si substrate. The melting depths estimated by Imaging Pump-Probe measurements became shallower when the shorter wavelength was used.     

Demonstration of Mo Soft X-Ray Lasers with a Grazing Incidence Pumping Scheme in the XL-II Facility

A Ni-like Mo soft x-ray laser （SXRLs） operating at 18.9nm has been demonstrated by employing a grazing incidence pumping scheme with 120m^3 in the 200ps pre-pulse and 140mJ in the 200fs main pulse. The SXRL gain is estimated to be 1.5-3cm^-1 when a grazing incidence angle of 14° is applied. Numerical simulations are also performed to investigate the dynamics of the ion distribution. It is found that a high intensity at 2.4× 10^14 W/cm^2 of the 200fs main pulse could heat the pre-plasma rapidly to an appropriate temperature for population inversion, and could compensate for the shortage of the total pump energy to a certain extent.     

A Compact Sol-Gel Laser with Dynamic Distributed Feedback

Lasing in dynamic-distributed-feedback (DDFB) laser on the basis of a modified sol-gel matrix activated with Rhodamine 4C is reported. The lasing is achieved in the range of 590 nm with a wavelength tuning of about 20 nm. The slope efficiency of the sol-gel DDFB laser excited by the second harmonic radiation of a YAG:Nd³⁺ laser with a pulse duration of 40 ns is 16.5% at a lasing wavelength of 593 nm. The DDFB laser is also characterized by a threshold pumping energy of 90 J and a pumping energy density up to 40 mJ/cm². The typical spectral width of the laser line is 0.025 nm.     

高效率低阈值Nd:S-FAP晶体激光特性

测量了新型晶体Nd:S-FAP[Nd:Sr₅(PO₄)₃F]的吸收光谱特性,它具有宽的有效吸收带,在575.0nm和805.4nm处有二个强的吸收峰.用可调谐染料激光器测量了575.0nm处的吸收系数为19.7cm^-1,用波长为575.0nm的的染料激光作泵浦源,实现了1.059μm的全偏振光输出,最低闽值为2.5mJ,斜效率为49%.用KTP倍频获得的绿光的波长为0.5295μm,峰值半宽度为1.0nm.     

Removal of submicron particles from nickel-phosphorus surfaces by pulsed laser irradiation

Pulsed laser cleaning was demonstrated to be an efficient way for removing submicron particles from the nickel-phosphorus (NiP) surface both experimentally and theoretically. Experimentally, it is found that using KrF excimer laser with a pulse width of 23 ns the cleaning threshold is about 20 mJ / cm² for removing quartz particles from the NiP surface and laser cleaning efficiency increases rapidly with increasing laser fluence. The theoretical analysis shows that the peak cleaning force (per unit area) is larger than the adhesion force (per unit area) for submicron quartz particles on the NiP surface when it is irradiated by excimer laser with a fluence above 10 mJ / cm². Therefore, it is possible to remove submicron quartz particles from NiP surfaces by laser irradiation. The difference between the cleaning force (per unit area) and the adhesion force (per unit area) increases with increasing laser fluence, leading to a higher cleaning efficency for quartz particles on the NiP surface.     

Nanoparticle production by UV irradiation of combustion generated soot particles

Laser ablation of surfaces normally produce high temperature plasmas that are difficult to control. By irradiating small particles in the gas phase, we can better control the size and concentration of the resulting particles when different materials are photofragmented. Here, we irradiate soot with 193 nm light from an ArF excimer laser. Irradiating the original agglomerated particles at fluences ranging from 0.07 to 0.26 J/cm² with repetition rates of 20 and 100 Hz produces a large number of small, unagglomerated particles, and a smaller number of spherical agglomerated particles. Mean particle diameters from 20 to 50 nm are produced from soot originally having a mean electric mobility diameter of 265 nm. We use a non-dimensional parameter, called the photon–atom ratio (PAR), to aid in understanding the photofragmentation process. This parameter is the ratio of the number of photons striking the soot particles to the number of the carbon atoms contained in the soot particles, and is a better metric than the laser fluence for analyzing laser–particle interactions. These results suggest that UV photofragmentation can be effective in controlling particle size and morphology, and can be a useful diagnostic for studying elements of the laser ablation process.     

High-energy PPMgLN optical parametric oscillator pumped by a 1.064 μm E-O Q-Switched Nd:YAG laser

A high-energy PPMgLN optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a E-O Q-switched Nd:YAG laser working at 1.064 μm was successfully illustrated. A maximum output pulse energy of 3.4 mJ was obtained with a pump threshold of 1.5 mJ and a slope efficiency of 30% around room temperature. The OPO output signal and idler wavelength were 1552 and 3384 nm, respectively. The damage to the input surface of PPMgLN crystal was carefully observed with a damage threshold of 4.6 J/cm².