Excimer laser: a new tool for precision micromachining

The unique features of the pulsed UV light emitted by excimer lasers lead to a variety of innovative applications of this relatively new industrial laser type. The excimer laser is used for micromachining, surface treatment, microlithography and high-quality marking. The resolution of excimer laser processing is very high: typical structures of 100 m down to 0.2 m are produced. Moreover, typical ablation rates of about 0.1–1 m per laser pulse also allow extremely high precision in the depth of material removal.The most popular industrial applications of excimer lasers are microdrilling for highly integrated multichip modules (MCMs), TABs and FPCBs, in the manufacturing of nozzle plates for personal ink-jet printers, TFT annealing for flat panel displays, wire stripping for hard disk heads, and indelible marking for the aircraft, electronic and medical/health-care industries.In contrast to traditional and alternative methods, the use of excimer lasers allows fast and flexible production processes without pollution of the environment. Nearly all technical materials (plastics, ceramics, glass, metals, semiconductors, composites) and biological/medical materials can be processed by excimer laser methods.