Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.

Institut National D'optique

Fianium Limited

Brian W Baird

Kelly Bruland

Ho Wai Lo

Yunlong Sun

Richard S Harris

Stephen Neal Swaringen

Richard DeFreez

Brady Nilsen

Clint R Vandergiessen

Frank G Evans

Lian-Cheng Zou

Michael J Wolfe

Kevin P Fahey

David Martin Hemenway

Yves Taillon

Louis Desbiens

James N O'Brien

Robert Hainsey

Steve Swaringen

Mark Alan Unrath

Pascal Deladurantaye

William J Jordens

Jay Johnson

Xiaoyuan Peng

Timothy Gerke

Dany Lemieux

Hisashi Matsumoto

Brian C Johansen

David A Watt

Weisheng Lei

Marco Michele Sisto

Andrew Edwin Hooper

Vincent Roy

Gregg Hardy

Wensheng Ren

Mathieu Drolet

Thomas R McNeil

David Gay

Timothy D Gerke

A picosecond laser beam shaping assembly is disclosed for shaping a picosecond laser beam for use in patterning (e.g., scribing) semiconductor devices. The assembly comprises a pulsed fibre laser source of picosecond laser pulses, a harmonic conversion element for converting laser pulses at a first laser wavelength having a first spectral bandwidth to laser pulses at a second laser wavelength having a second spectral bandwidth, and a beam shaping apparatus for shaping the laser beam at the second laser wavelength, the beam shaping apparatus having a spectral bandwidth that substantially corresponds to the second spectral bandwidth so as to produce a laser beam having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional profile.

Methods and apparatus for patterning photovoltaic devices and materials for use with such devices

A scribed photovoltaic device, comprising a photovoltaic device configured for generating electrical energy responsive to receiving solar radiation, the photovoltaic device comprising a plurality of electrically connected photovoltaic sections comprising a photovoltaic light absorbing chalcopyrite semiconductor region ('PLACS region') disposed between first and second electrode regions. The photovoltaic sections can each comprise a scribe channel extending along and into two of the regions, wherein the scribe channel can comprise a pair of spaced opposing sidewalls of one of the regions, a pair of terraces comprising a pair of spaced opposing terrace shoulders, and a second pair of spaced opposing sidewalls of another one of the regions, with the spacing of the second pair of sidewalls being different than the spacing of the first pair of sidewalls. The spacing of the second pair of sidewalls can be less than the spacing of the first pair of sidewalls, and another one of the regions comprises the PLACS region.

Chalcopyrite-type semiconductor photovoltaic device

Processing workpieces such as semiconductor wafers or other materials with a laser includes selecting a target to process that corresponds to a target class associated with a predefined temporal pulse profile. The temporal pulse profile includes a first portion that defines a first time duration, and a second portion that defines a second time duration. A method includes generating a laser pulse based on laser system input parameters configured to shape the laser pulse according to the temporal pulse profile, detecting the generated laser pulse, comparing the generated laser pulse to the temporal pulse profile, and adjusting the laser system input parameters based on the comparison.

Methods and systems for dynamically generating tailored laser pulses

Methods and systems selectively irradiate structures on or within a semiconductor substrate using multiple laser beams. The structures may be laser-severable conductive links, and the purpose of the irradiation may be to sever selected links.

Methods and systems for semiconductor structure processing using multiple laser beam spots

Processing a workpiece with a laser includes generating laser pulses at a first pulse repetition frequency. The first pulse repetition frequency provides reference timing for coordination of a beam positioning system and one or more cooperating beam position compensation elements to align beam delivery coordinates relative to the workpiece. The method also includes, at a second pulse repetition frequency that is lower than the first pulse repetition frequency, selectively amplifying a subset of the laser pulses. The selection of the laser pulses included in the subset is based on the first pulse repetition frequency and position data received from the beam positioning system. The method further includes adjusting the beam delivery coordinates using the one or more cooperating beam position compensation elements so as to direct the amplified laser pulses to selected targets on the workpiece.

Photonic clock stabilized laser comb processing

A method for stabilizing an output of a pulsed laser system includes a directly modulated laser diode by mitigating the effect of switching transients on the temporal shape of the outputted pulses. The method includes controlling a pulse shaping signal to define, over time, processing and conditioning periods. During the processing periods, the pulse shaping signal has an amplitude profile tailored to produce the desired temporal shape of the output. Each conditioning period either immediately precedes or follows a processing period. During a given processing period, the amplitude profile of the pulse shaping signal is tailored so that the drive current of the laser diode is lower than its maximum value during the corresponding processing period, and is of the same order of magnitude as the laser threshold current of the laser diode. In this manner, the stability of the output during the corresponding processing period is improved.

Method for stablizing an output of a pulsed laser system using pulse shaping

Laser systems and methods for providing an output light beam having a target spatial pattern are provided. A light generating module generates an input light beam, whose spectral profile is then tailored by imposing thereon a controllable phase modulation. The obtained spectrally tailored light beam is dispersed, using at least one spatially-dispersive element to provide an output light beam having a spatial profile which is a function of the spectral profile of the spectrally tailored light beam, The phase modulation is selected in view of the spectral profile of the input light beam and of the dispersion characteristics of the at least one spatially-dispersive element so that the spatial pattern of the output light beam matches the target spatial pattern therefor.

System and method for the spatial tailoring of laser light using temporal phase modulation

UV laser cutting throughput through silicon and like materials is improved by dividing a long cut path () into short segments (), from about 10 &#x3bc;m to 1 mm. The laser output () is scanned within a first short segment () for a predetermined number of passes before being moved to and scanned within a second short segment () for a predetermined number of passes. The bite size, segment size (), and segment overlap () can be manipulated to minimize the amount and type of trench backfill. Real-time monitoring is employed to reduce rescanning portions of the cut path(112)where the cut is already completed. Polarization direction of the laser output () is also correlated with the cutting direction to further enhance throughput. This technique can be employed to cut a variety of materials with a variety of different lasers and wavelengths.A multi-step process can optimize the laser processes for each individual layer.

Laser segmented cutting, multi-step cutting, or both

Embodiments of laser systems advantageously use pulsed optical fiber-based laser source () output, the temporal pulse profile of which may be programmed to assume a range of pulse shapes. Pulsed fiber lasers are subject to peak power limits to prevent an onset of undesirable nonlinear effects; therefore, the laser output power of these devices is subsequently amplified in a diode-pumped solid state photonic power amplifier (DPSS-PA) (). The DPSS PA provides for amplification of the desirable low peak power output of a pulsed fiber master oscillator power amplifier () to much higher peak power levels and thereby also effectively increases the available energy per pulse at a specified pulse repetition frequency. The combination of the pulsed fiber master oscillator power amplifier and the diode-pumped solid state power amplifier is referred to as a tandem solid state photonic amplifier ().

Tandem photonic amplifier

Methods stabilize the output of a pulsed laser system using pulse shaping capabilities. In some embodiments, transient effects following a transition between a QCW regime and a pulse shaping regime are mitigated by ensuring that the average QCW optical power substantially corresponds to the average pulsed optical power outputted in a steady-state operation of the pulsed laser system in the pulse shaping regime. The QCW signal or the pulse shaping signal may be adapted for this purpose. In other embodiments, transient effects associated with non-process pulses emitted between series of consecutive process pulses are mitigated through the proper use of sequential pulse shaping.

Methods for stabilizing the output of a pulsed laser system having pulse shaping capabilities

Laser segmented cutting

Laser output including at least one laser pulse having a wavelength greater than 1.1 &#x3bc;m and shorter than 5 &#x3bc;m (preferably at about 1.1 &#x3bc;m) and having a pulsewidth shorter than 100 ps (preferably shorter than 10 ps) permits low-k dielectric material, such as SRO or SiCOH, to be removed without damaging the substrate. An oscillator module in cooperation with an amplification module are used to generate the laser output.

Laser processing of workpieces containing low-k dielectric material

A laser processing system includes a beam positioning system to align beam delivery coordinates relative to a workpiece. The beam positioning system generates position data corresponding to the alignment. The system also includes a pulsed laser source and a beamlet generation module to receive a laser pulse from the pulsed laser source. The beamlet generation module generates a beamlet array from the laser pulse. The beamlet array includes a plurality of beamlet pulses. The system further includes a beamlet modulator to selectively modulate the amplitude of each beamlet pulse in the beamlet array, and beamlet delivery optics to focus the modulated beamlet array onto one or more targets at locations on the workpiece corresponding to the position data.

Photonic milling using dynamic beam arrays

Methods and systems selectively irradiate structures on or within a semiconductor substrate using a plurality of laser beams. The structures are arranged in a row extending in a generally lengthwise direction. The method generates a first laser beam that propagates along a first laser beam axis that intersects the semiconductor substrate and a second laser beam that propagates along a second laser beam axis that intersects the semiconductor substrate. The method simultaneously directs the first and second laser beams onto distinct first and second structures in the row. The method moves the first and second laser beam axes relative to the semiconductor substrate substantially in unison in a direction substantially parallel to the lengthwise direction of the row, so as to selectively irradiate structures in the row with one or more of the first and second laser beams simultaneously.

Semiconductor structure processing using multiple laser beam spots spaced on-axis delivered simultaneously

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Oregon City, OR, United States of America

Brian W Baird