Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.

Robert Hainsey

Yunlong Sun

Brian W Baird

Kelly Bruland

Jeffrey Howerton

Haibin Zhang

Glenn Simenson

David Barsic

Patrick Leonard

Wayne Crowther

Ho Wai Lo

Richard S Harris

Jay Johnson

Clint R Vandergiessen

Lei Sun

Andrew Edwin Hooper

Steve Swaringen

Andy E Hooper

Allen Kawasaki

The invention is a method and apparatus for creating a color and optical density selectable visible mark on an anodized aluminum specimen. The method includes providing a laser marking system having a laser, laser optics and a controller operatively connected to said laser to control laser pulse parameters and a controller with stored laser pulse parameters, selecting the stored laser pulse parameters associated with the desired color and optical density, directing the laser marking system to produce laser pulses having laser pulse parameters associated with the desired color and optical density including temporal pulse widths greater than about 1 and less than about 1000 picoseconds to impinge upon said anodized aluminum.

Method and apparatus for reliably laser marking articles

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

A laser activated phase change device for use in an integrated circuit comprises a chalcogenide fuse configured to connect a first patterned metal line and a second patterned metal line and positioned between an inter layer dielectric and an over fuse dielectric. The fuse interconnects active semiconductor elements manufactured on a substrate. A method for activating the laser activated phase change device includes selecting a laser condition of a laser based on characteristics of the fuse and programming a phase-change of the fuse with the laser by direct photon absorption until a threshold transition temperature is met.

Laser chalcogenide phase change device

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

A laser pulse with a specially tailored temporal power profile, instead of a conventional temporal shape or substantially square shape, severs an IC link. The specially tailored laser pulse preferably has either an overshoot at the beginning of the laser pulse or a spike peak within the duration of the laser pulse. The timing of the spike peak is preferably set ahead of the time when the link is mostly removed. A specially tailored laser pulse power profile allows the use of a wider laser pulse energy range and shorter laser wavelengths, such as the green and UV, to sever the links without appreciable damage to the substrate and passivation structure material located on either side of and underlying the links.

Methods of and laser systems for link processing using laser pulses with specially tailored power profiles

In a master oscillator power amplifier, a driver () of a diode laser () is specially controlled to generate a set of two or more injection laser pulses that are injected into a power amplifier () operated in an unsaturated state to generate a set () of laser pulses () that replicate the temporal power profile of the injection laser pulses to remove a conductive link () and/or its overlying passivation layer () in a memory or other IC chip. Each set () includes at least one specially tailored pulse () and/or two or more pulses () having different temporal power profiles. The duration of the set () is short enough to be treated as a single 'pulse' by conventional positioning systems () to perform on-the-fly link removal without stopping.

Generating sets of tailored laser pulses

A set () of one or more laser pulses () is employed to remove passivation layer () over a conductive link (). The link () can subsequently be removed by a different process such as chemical etching. The duration of the set () is preferably shorter than 1,000 ns; and the pulse width of each laser pulse () within the set () is preferably within a range of about 0.05 ps to 30 ns. The set () can be treated as a single 'pulse' by conventional laser positioning systems () to perform on-the-fly material removal without stopping whenever the laser system () fires a set () of laser pulses () at each target area (). Conventional wavelengths in the IR range or their harmonics in the green or UV range can be employed.

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Portland, OR, United States of America

Robert Hainsey