Micromachining of AlN and Al2O3 Using Fiber Laser

We report on high precision high speed micromachining of Al2O3 and AlN using pulsed near infrared fiber laser. Ablation thresholds are determined to be 30 J/cm(2) for alumina and 18 J/cm(2) for aluminum nitride. The factors influencing the efficiency and quality of 3D micromachining, namely the surface roughness, the material removal rate and the ablation depth accuracy are determined as a function of laser repetition rate and pulse overlap. Using a fluence of 64 J/cm(2), we achieve a material removal rate of up to 94 mm(3)/h in Al2O3 and 135 mm(3)/h in AlN for high pulse overlaps (89% and 84%). A minimum roughness of 1.5 mu m for alumina and 1.65 mu m for aluminum nitride can be accomplished for medium pulse overlaps (42% to 56%). In addition, ablation depth deviation of the micromachining process of smaller than 8% for alumina and 2% for aluminum nitride are achieved. Based on these results, by structuring exemplarily 3D structures we demonstrate the potential of high quality and efficient 3D micromachining using pulsed fiber laser.