Short-Pulse Nanosecond Lasers Enable High-Precision Materials Processing

Ultrashort pulse (USP) lasers are well established for delivering unmatched precision with minimal heat-affected zone across a wide range of materials. However, their cost and throughput characteristics often limit their use in high-volume manufacturing.

The development of nanosecond lasers with broadly adjustable pulse widths (from <2 ns to >50 ns) and highly flexible burst-mode programmability has opened an entirely new processing parameter space. Ablation tests reveal that, with the short-ns pulses and the ability to combine these in bursts, a relatively unexplored realm of quality and throughput tailorability is accessible. With suitable parameter optimization, these lasers can produce feature quality approaching that of USP lasers while offering higher throughput – but with reduced cost and complexity.

This webinar presents test results for short-pulse nanosecond laser ablation, with and without burst mode, on several materials commonly used in the fabrication of microelectronics and other high-precision products. In particular, it examines how pulse parameters influence both feature quality and material removal efficiency.

About the presenter
Jim Bovatsek is a senior manager of applications engineering at MKS Spectra-Physics industrial applications laboratory in Milpitas, California. He has focused on laser applications development using nanosecond, picosecond, and femtosecond pulsed lasers since 2000, with various publications and patents having been generated. He holds a bachelor of science degree in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.