Microhole drilling using reshaped pulsed Gaussian laser beams

With the aim of reducing the heat-affected zone to improve edge quality, we present results of drilling microholes using reshaped pulsed Gaussian laser beams. A diode-pumped, high repetition rate, nanosecond pulse duration 3rd harmonic Nd:YAG laser was reshaped such that the intensity gradient in the outer region of the focussed laser beam profile is increased. Compared to focussed Gaussian laser beams, such hard-edged intensity distributions produce smaller heat-affected zones. As a result there is less associated collateral damage, debris, remelt produced by the near-ablation threshold fluences. Specially designed spherically-aberrating Galilean telescopes are used to reshape the primary Gaussian laser beam into a quasi-tophat distribution at the mask plane. Gaussian illumination propagation simulations using Monte-Carlo ray tracing calculations compare well with measurements of reshaped distributions made with a beam profiler. Drilling trials in polymers and silicon nitride demonstrated improved edge quality, reduced debris and wall roughness and a significant reduction in the energy density required for drilling microholes of high aspect ratio.© (2001) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.