Efficiency and Throughput Improvements Using Diode Pumped Solid State Lasers

All high volume laser manufacturing processes demand high throughput, improved accuracy, and minimal thermal damage to the target material. Diode pumped solid state (DPSS) Q-switched nanosecond lasers are being used routinely today for many semiconductor & microelectronics and solar cell manufacturing processes. Spectra Physics has been offering variety of DPSS lasers for such processes for more than two decades. These lasers offer low noise, high stability, and reliability required for a robust manufacturing process. Efficient use of the available energy from a laser source is important to achieve maximum material removal for the laser material processing applications. Especially, with availability of short pulse width, high energy per pulse, and high repetition rate pulsed lasers it is necessary to deposit optimal amount of energy to achieve most efficient ablation and removal of material with minimal heat affected zone. Examples of how to improve material removal efficiency, throughput, and quality of machining for LED scribing, Silicon machining, and some of the solar cell manufacturing processes using Spectra Physics new lasers in combination with efficient optical beam delivery systems are described.