Gator Laser Specification

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High peak power solid state laser for

micromachining of hard materials
Ludolf Herbst*a, John P. Quitterb, Gregory M. Rayb, Thomas Kuntzec,
Alexander O. Wiessnerb, Sergei V. Govorkovb Mike Heglin**b
a
Lambda Physik AG, Hans-Boeckler-Strasse 12, Goettingen, Germany;
b
Lambda Physik Inc., 3201 West Commercial Blvd., Ft. Lauderdale, USA
c
Fraunhofer Institute of Material and Beam Technology (IWS),
Winterbergstrasse 28, Dresden, Germany
ABSTRACT
Laser micromachining has become a key enabling technology in the ever-continuing trend of miniaturization in
microelectronics, micro-optics, and micromechanics. New applications have become commercially viable due to the
emergence of innovative laser sources, such as diode pumped solid-state lasers (DPSSL), and the progress in
processing technology. Examples of industrial applications are laser-drilled micro-injection nozzles for highly efficient
automobile engines, or manufacturing of complex spinnerets for production of synthetic fibers. The unique advantages
of laser-based techniques stem from their ability to produce high aspect ratio holes, while yielding low heat affected
zones with exceptional surface quality, roundness and taper tolerances. Additionally, the ability to drill blind holes and
slots in very hard materials such as diamond, silicon, sapphire, ceramics and steel is of great interest for many
applications in microelectronics, semiconductor and automotive industry. This kind of high quality, high aspect ratio
micromachining requires high peak power and short pulse durations.
Keywords: DPSS laser, micro structuring, micromachining, UV light
1. INTRODUCTION
Lasers with nano-second long pulses are now recognized as a rapidand efficient tool for micromachining precise holes
and micro features in hard to machine materials, such as metals and ceramics [1-5]. The short pulse duration leads to
high peak power intensities that remove most of the material via vaporization, resulting in a very small heat-affectedzone (HAZ) compared to long pulse laser material processing. In order to produce micro features by direct writing, the
laser beam is focused to spot sizes of below 50 m. This requires a TEM00 laser beam with a M value not much larger
than 1. In addition, when machining materials, such as silicon, UV light at 355 nm has been found to produce
significantly less thermal damage than longer wavelengths like IR [5].
The Lambda Physik Gator and PowerGator DPSS-Nd:YAG lasers produce diffraction limited TEM00 beam with M2
<1.2, allowing excellent beam focusability. The Gator series of lasers have been specifically designed for
micromachining of hard materials including cutting and drilling of both through, as well as, blind holes and slots. The
distinguishing characteristic of the Gator is its high peak power, resulting from its short pulse duration and high pulse
energy.
In this paper, typical industrial applications in micromachining of hard and difficult to process materials covering a
wide range of applications in the semiconductor, automotive, ink jet, medical, and electronics industries will be
presented. We will also discuss various focusing techniques and the implications of using high peak power pulses on
the quality and yield of producing complex micromachined structures.
* lherbst@lambdaphysik.com; phone +49 551 6938 404; fax +49 551 68691; ** mheglin@lambdaphysik.com;
SPIE USE, V. 2 4968-14 (p.1 of 9) / Color: No / Format: A4/ AF: A4 / Date: 2003-01-07 01:45:38
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2. EXPERIMENTAL
2.1 Optics Set-up
For this micromachining application a programmable galvanometer scanner guides the beam accurately and at high
speed over the target to create complex features. The laser beam was switched with a fast Lambda Physik galvo
shutter, with an open / close response time of < 1 msec. A beam expansion telescope was used to increase the diameter
of the beam, which was then guided through a quarterwave plate to ensure circular polarization of the beam on the
target. The set-up for this scanner system is shown in Figure 1. For drilling precise circular holes the scanner head is
replaced with a trepanning system as shown in Figure 2. The main parts of a trepanning system are rotating wedges to
shift the laser beam. By rotating the wedges the beam draws a circular path on the work piece. More advanced systems
consist of up to three wedges to control the laser beam to achieve varying tape in holes [4]. The trepanning technique
is used to increase the drilling range of the laser to achieve larger diameter holes and maintain hole roundness. For
high speed drilling of holes below 50m diameter a fixed beam percussion technique is used.
Figure 1: Typical setup with laser, fast galvo shutter, telescope, quarter wave plate, scan head, and x-y-z-stage. The quarterwave
plate ensures circular polarization of the beam incident on the sample (picture courtesy of Fraunhofer Institute IWS Dresden,
Germany).
Laser Beam
Rotating Wedges
Focusing Lens
Sample
Figure 2: Trepanning head optics system. The focal spot on the sample draws a circular path.
2.2 DPSS Laser

The DPSS Lasers used in these tests belong to the Lambda Physik Gator series. This series consists of models with
output powers ranging from 3 to >28 watt and wavelengths of 1064, 532 and 355 nm. Since all Gator models deliver
short pulses of about 15 ns. the very high peak power of up to 24 GW/cm is achieved.
Model
Wavelength
GATOR G355-3
GATOR G532-5
GATOR G1064-10
POWERGATOR PG355-10
POWERGATOR PG532-15
POWERGATOR PG1064-30
355 nm
532 nm
1064 nm
355 nm
532 nm
1064 nm
Average Power
at 10 kHz
3W
5W
10 W
10 W
>14 W
>28 W
Max. Pulse Peak Power Density

(incident beam diameter = 1 mm)
2.5 GW/cm
4.2 GW/cm
8.4 GW/cm
8.4 GW/cm
12 GW/cm
24 GW/cm
Table 1: The Lambda Physik DPSSL Gator family.
Characteristic
Wavelength
Energy per Pulse

Repetition Rate
Power Range
Pulse Length, FWHM
Beam Quality
Parameter
Diode pumped Nd:YAG
1064 nm
532 nm
355 nm
0.1 3 mJ
1 Hz 15 kHz
3 >28 W
15 +/- 3 ns
TEM00, M2 < 1.2
Table 2: The characteristics of the Gator DPSSL series.
To permit easy integration of these lasers into automated part handling systems the Gator series of lasers are designed
with the following basic programming and machine interfacing features:
Internal triggering to allow programming of a variable pulse rate from 5-15 kHz through an external control
port.
External triggering permits random pulsing operation from 0-15,000 Hz.
The laser the output power can be varied from 70-100% of specified value via control port.
For all laser models an Options Module available that can be directly mounted to the laser. This optional
module permits: Optical 10-95% Attenuator and Power Control, Solenoid Driven Shutter (30 ms response),
or Galvo-Shutter (< 1 ms response). The Options Module has been used for the applications described in this
paper.
The small M of < 1.2 allows to focus the laser beam to spot sizes down to several m diameter. A selection of
possible spot sizes for the different Gator models is given in Table 3. The focused spot diameter d can be expressed as
d=
4 M f
D
(1)
where the wavelength, f the focal length of the lens and D the diameter of the incident beam. Hence, the spot size of
a Gaussian beam in the focal plane depends on beam quality and wavelength. Figure 3 shows the corresponding set up
for focusing the laser beam.
Figure 3: Basic set up to focus a Gaussian beam. The focused spot size of a Gaussian beam in the focal plane depends on beam
quality and wavelength.
GATOR 355 / POWERGATOR 355

5 -10 m spot
8 -16 m spot
16 - 32 m spot
Table 3: Typical spot diameters d for f/D = 10 to 20 for the different Gator models.
3.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The influence of different laser parameters such as wavelength and power have been investigated in several works
already [1,2]. The following section presents recent results in processing of certain hard materials.
3.1 Processing of Silicon

Manufacturers that rely on silicon substrates for thermally and electrically stable platforms for semiconductor devices
need to be able to cut, drill and perform other machining operations to complete the manufacturing process necessary
to produce discrete dies. Diamond saw cutting is a standard process used to separate excise dies from wafers. Reactive
ion etching is another standard process used to create three-dimensional shapes in silicon. Because of the limitations of
these standard tools there has been a strong interest to find a laser process that can offer not only a competing to ol but
also one with much greater flexibility and lower cost. IR and UV lasers have been used to cut silicon wafers but
microcracking has always limited their use.
We have investigated machining silicon wafers up to 1mm thick using a DPSS laser that deliv ers short pulses of about
15 ns at 355 nm wavelength. The results show a small heat-effected-zone with little evidence of microcracking. But
even a small increase in laser pulse width can increase the thermal damage to silicon that can be seen as an enlarged
amount of redeposited material in and around the hole (see Figure 4).
15 ns pulse width
25 ns pulse width
Figure 4: The effect of pulse width damage in silicon using 355 nm wavelength. A considerable greater amount of re-solidified
material results with longer pulse width.
It was also found that the material removal rate is quite high as shown in Figure 5. This graph shows the ablation rate
vs. focus position when the beam is focused through a lens with a focal length of 25 mm. In these tests we also
measured the effects of pulse rate from 10 to 15 kHz. It was observed that the ablation rate not only depends on the
focus position but also on the repetition rate. The highest silicon ablation rate of 23m per pulse was achieved at 11
kHz.
Figure 5: Ablation rate vs. focus position for different repetition rates in silicon processed with 10W at 355 nm.
Figure 6a shows a 120m-diameter hole trepanned in silicon. Figure 6b shows the smooth surface quality achieved. In
Figure 7a, the 100m-diameter holes were trepanned in 680 micron thick silicon with good round geometries. Figure
7b, are percussion drilled holes produced at a rate of over 50 holes per second. Even without trepanning the circularity
of these percussion-drilled holes do meet the requirements of many via hole drilling applications.
Figure 6a: Trepanned hole in silicon.
Figure 6b: Smooth internal wall structure of the cut
(pictures courtesy of Fraunhofer Institute IWS Dresden, Germany).
Figure 7a: Trepanned 100m-diameter holes
Figure 7b: Percussion drilled 25m -diameter holes
The combination of a UV wavelength of 355 nm and a 15 ns pulse duration results in clean cuts with little HAZ. This
laser is show to be able to process parts for use in micro-electro-mechanical-systems (MEMS) or hybrid circuits.
Figure 8 shows an example of the small thermal effect of the laser that cut slots through 625m thick silicon within a
few microns of integrated electronic features. The features are visible on the top and lower border of the picture.
Figure 8: PowerGator PG355 - 10 W, 0.625 mm thick Silicon as cut (width 300 m) showing very little HAZ and no visible
damage to electronic circuit features.
3.2 Processing of Stainless Steel

Increasing demands from the automotive industry for a better method to drill high precision small holes have lead to
the investigation of a short pulse duration laser for drilling of fuel injection nozzles. These parts are made from various
steel alloys and require hole diameters of 160m and smaller to penetrate wall thickness of up to 1mm. Some of these
holes are being drilled using the trepanning head shown previously in Figure 2. Since steel is less sensitive to laser
wavelength holes can be drilled using 1064 nm, as shown in Figure 9, or 532nm or 355nm.
Figure 9: Trepanned holes in stainless steel drilled with 1064 nm (picture courtesy of Fraunhofer Institute IWS Dresden, Germany).
Recent demands to reduce exhaust emissions will require that fuel injectors be drilled with hole diameters below
100m. Hole shape and roundness are also important considerations in selecting a drilling process. As hole d iameters
become smaller lasers are replacing EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) and punching as the main process of
choice. Additionally, stainless steel medical devices with micro features such as stents and catheters are an interesting
field for laser processing. One such application required the drilling of 42 micron diameter holes through 130 micron
thick SS. Because of the roundness specification trepanning was used to produce the holes.
Using the 2 axis galvanometer scanner, shapes other then round holes can also be produced easily, such as the slot
shown in Figure 10. Conventional motion stages can be programmed to move the workpiece but with the laser
operating at 10kHz the scanner head produces the same features at higher speed.
Figure 10: 295 m x 970 m cut in 230 m thick stainless steel. Beam focused with f = 75 mm lens, best focus.
At the high peak powers of the DPSS laser, SS and silicon can be drilled with similar results. Figure 11 shows 25m
diameter holes drilled at a rate of 50 holes per second in 30m thick 316 sheet. Hole roundness is excellent. A
composite material such as copper clad SS sheet is also easily drilled without any evidence of delamination as shown
in Figure 12.
Figure 11: 25m holes in 30m SS drilled at 50 holes per second.
Figure 12: Trepanned hole with 155m exit diameter in 140m thick stainless steel with copper cladding.
3.3 Processing of Diamond

Marking, cutting, trenching and drilling of diamond are of interest for many applications. For precise machining of
diamonds and avoidance of thermally induced cracking, the third harmonic (355 nm) of a short pulse DPSSL is
extremely effective. Diamonds high absorption rate at 355 nm plus the high energy density resulting from the short
pulse width will result in a process that is primarily characterized by spontaneous vaporization with little heat transfer
into the material. Figure 13, shows an example of drilling a hole into diamond.
Figure 13: Drilling of diamond with Gator operating at 355 nm (picture courtesy of Fraunhofer Institute IWS Dresden, Germany).
4. CONCLUSION
The materials processing benefits of using short pulse duration DPSS Nd:YAG lasers for manufacturing of micron
level features have been clearly demonstrated using 355 nm, 532nm and 1064 nm wavelengths. Design and production
engineers can now design and produce critical components requiring accurate and precise holes, slots, and trenches
rapidly and cheaply with this new family of small and highly reliable lasers.
In the automotive industry this series of DPSS lasers will permit the design of smaller injector holes that, up to now,
were not either possible or economically feasible to produce. This laser allows the designer the flexibility and means
to meet future requirements to reduce exhaust emissions in a cost effective way.
The compact size, reliability and low operating cost make the DPSS Nd:YAG laser a very user-friendly manufacturing
system. Plant managers are happy to know that with these lasers on their manufacturing line the floor space
requirements are small, operating and maintenance costs are low, and the quality of the product produced is consistent.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
S. V. Govorkov et al.: High Accuracy Microdirlling of Steel with Solid-Steel UV Laser at 10 mm/sec Rate,
SPIE Proceedings, 2000
S. V. Govorkov, E. V. Slobodchikov, A. O. Wiessner, D. Basting: High-throughput micromachining of steel and
ceramics with solid-state UV laser, Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 4065 High-Power Laser Ablation, 2000
T. Abeln et al.: High Precision Drilling with Short-Pulsed Solid-State Lasers, Proceedings of ICALEO 99, 1999
F. Lichtner, F. Dausinger, Steuerbare Optik fuer das Wendelbohren, Laser Magazin 6/2002, pp 24 25, 2002
A. Ostendorf et al.: Material Processing Applicaitons for Diode Pumped Solid State Lasers, Lambda Highlights
No. 57 by Lambda Physik, pp 1 - 2, 2000

Gator Laser Specification

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High peak power solid state laser for

2.2 DPSS Laser

Max. Pulse Peak Power Density

Table 1: The Lambda Physik DPSSL Gator family.

Energy per Pulse

Table 2: The characteristics of the Gator DPSSL series.

External triggering permits random pulsing operation from 0-15,000 Hz.

GATOR 355 / POWERGATOR 355

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Processing of Silicon

Figure 6a: Trepanned hole in silicon.

Figure 6b: Smooth internal wall structure of the cut

(pictures courtesy of Fraunhofer Institute IWS Dresden, Germany).

Figure 7a: Trepanned 100m-diameter holes

Figure 7b: Percussion drilled 25m -diameter holes

3.2 Processing of Stainless Steel

Figure 11: 25m holes in 30m SS drilled at 50 holes per second.

3.3 Processing of Diamond

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