Apple Inc.

Yulei Sun

Michael M Li

Marwan Rammah

Palaniappan Chinnakaruppan

Raul Molina

Anthony J Richter

Phillip W Hum

A system and method of forming a sapphire component. The method may include disposing an absorptive-barrier layer on a first surface of a sapphire substrate, performing a cut in the sapphire substrate using a laser beam incident on the absorptive-barrier layer, and forming and removing molten sapphire from the cut. The method may also include shielding a region of the first surface that is adjacent to the cut from the molten sapphire using the absorptive-barrier layer, and removing the absorptive-barrier layer from the first surface of the sapphire substrate.

Coated substrate and process for cutting a coated substrate

A ceramic material, such as sapphire, is irradiated using a laser-based process to form a cut. In some implementations, a region of the ceramic material adjacent to the cut may be heated. The region may be removed to form an edge feature. In various implementations, the region of the ceramic material adjacent to the cut may be shielded from an outer portion of a laser beam used in the laser-based process using a shield, such as a polyethylene film. This removal and/or shielding operations may improve the mechanical strength of the ceramic material.

Enhancing strength in laser cutting of ceramic components

Growing community of inventors

Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Yulei Sun