Laser micro and nano scale processing

Laser processes have been applied to microscale to nanoscale technologies where wafer level laser micromachining or surface processing of silicon, glass, and other materials are crucial steps to realize the potential of new products or their developments. Especially, the laser processing of silicon using nanosecond laser pulses provides the capabilities of high precision and fast processing in micromachining applications. The unique advantages of the laser micromachining are currently applied towards the thermal ink jet fabrication process within HP along with many other micromachining applications. For these applications, laser offers advantages over competing technologies in providing lower cost of ownership, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and simpler, flexible photolithography-less process. Industrial laser processing requires reliable, low cost operation with high quality and throughput. In order to enable the novel applications of laser process for various parameters of laser-material vectors, it is important to gain an understanding on how material responds to the ranges of laser fluence (J/cm2) and peak intensity (W/cm2) for different wavelengths (nm) and how well the laser beam can be controlled temporally and spatially. This presentation describes the results of the relevant fundamental experiments for the optimization of processes and their novel applications in microscale and nanoscale processing. Emerging technologies increasingly demand fabrication capabilities in nanoscale. Overcoming diffraction limited spot size by thresholding effects from laser material interaction, multi-beam interference, near-field optic laser direct write, and nonlinear self-focusing can open up the opportunities for the laser nanoscale fabrication. The results from laser holographic lithography and laser direct write and their applications will be discussed.