The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 09, 2001
Filed:
Nov. 12, 1997
Xiangli Chen, Niskayuna, NY (US);
General Electric Company, Schenectady, NY (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for laser drilling an article having a nonmetallic layer. One embodiment of the method includes the steps of generating a pulsed laser beam, a pulse of the pulse laser beam having an energy of less than or equal to 0.1 joule and a pulse width of less than or equal to 500 nanoseconds, directing the pulsed laser beam at the article to vaporize the nonmetallic layer, and directing the pulsed laser beam at the article to vaporize the substrate. The method may be carried out with an apparatus which includes a Nd:YAG laser which produces the pulsed laser beam, the pulsed laser beam having a first frequency component, and a harmonic generator which generates a second frequency component, the second frequency being greater than the first frequency, where the laser beam, after passing through the harmonic generator, is incident on the article to vaporize the nonmetallic layer.