Micromachining with ultrashort laser pulses

Practical high precise and efficient micromarchining can be realized with computer controlled ultrashort laser pulses suppressing the thermal diffusion effect inside the material to be ablated. A direct translation from solid to the vapor state takes place at sufficient intensity levels, Experimental results of micromachining of different materials (Al, Si, InP and fused silica) with femtosecond laser pulses at wavelengths of 800 nm and 267 nm from a commercial Ti:sapphire laser are presented. Holes down to a diameter below I micron have been drilled with 800 nm pulses into aluminum as an interesting metal with an absorption peak in the W-range nearby 800 nm. Because of their low energy band gap semiconductors have a strong absorption at UV wavelengths. Arrays of holes dawn to 1 micrometer in diameter have been drilled into silicon and InP using 267 nm pulses, Results of fused silica as an example for transparent insulator materials are compared to results of semiconductors. The hole array manufacturing process takes only a few seconds. Precision can be improved by matching laser parameters to the processed material.