We investigated the relationship between size of melting marks formed inside glass and irradiation time and absorptivity of femtosecond laser beam. For this investigation the absorptivities for static exposure in fs-laser processing (femtosecond laser microprocessing inside glass) was estimated to approximately 4.5 [%]. Also the size of melting marks formed by fs-laser processing was measured with two irradiation times (1/125 [s] and 1/4 [s]). The sizes were much the same. Thus, in this time scale, the size was nearly independent of the irradiation time. Furthermore, luminescence phenomenon that occurred in fs-laser processing was observed. The duration of this luminescence was less than 2/1000 [s]. With the above experimental results, we demonstrated numerical heat transfer analysis during the fs-laser processing. From the experimental and numerical results it thought that the most process in fs-laser processing finishes within 2/1000 [s].
Stealth dicing (SD) is an innovative dicing method developed by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. In the SD method, a
permeable nanosecond laser is focused inside a silicon wafer and scanned horizontally. A thermal shock wave
propagates every pulse toward the side to which the laser is irradiated, then a high dislocation density layer is formed
inside the wafer after the thermal shock wave propagation. In our previous study, it was concluded that an internal crack
whose initiation is a dislocation is propagated when the thermal shock wave by the next pulse overlaps with this layer
partially. In the experimental result, the trace that a crack is progressed gradually step by step was observed. In this
study, the possibility of internal crack propagation by laser pulses was investigated. A two-dimensional thermal stress
analysis based on the linear fracture mechanics was conducted using the stress distribution obtained by the axisymmetric
thermal stress analysis. As a result, the validity of the hypothesis based on a heat transfer analysis result previously
presented was supported. Also it was concluded that the internal crack is propagated by at least two pulses.
Microspike-arrays were fabricated by irradiating a femtosecond laser on a tungsten surface through a mask opening in air. Natural logarithm of the calculated intensity distributions diffracted at the edge of the mask opening was qualitatively consistent with the experimental results of the shape and arrays of microspikes fabricated. The shape and the array of microspikes depend on the intensity distribution diffracted at the edge of the mask opening. This microspike-array has a potential to be micro emitter tips.
The quenching of the ε phase of iron, which has not been observed under a conventional shock compression, was attained using a femtosecond laser. The crystalline structure in a recovered iron sample was determined using an electron backscatter diffraction pattern, an electron diffraction pattern, and a synchrotron X-ray diffraction methods. A small quantity of the γ phase of iron also existed. Thermodynamic state inside the shock front has to be known because the shock induced phase transition occurs inside the shock front. Therefore, the temperature inside the shock front was calculated using thermodynamic equations. It was found that the ε phase was induced by the shock itself but not the γ phase. The γ phase was suggested to be induced as an intermediate structure between the α-ε transition. The femtosecond laser driven shock may have the potential to quench high-pressure phases which has not been attained using conventional methods.
Frequency conversion technique using nonlinear optical crystals is indispensable to solid-state laser applications. It is well known that the conversion efficiency is very sensitive to temperature change of crystal, which is caused by laser absorption. We have been analyzing problems of second harmonic generation (SHG) by coupling the electric field to the temperature field. In this study, temporal pulse-shape dependence of SHG was investigated theoretically, and Gaussian pulse and rectangular pulse were compared. Main conclusions obtained are as follows: (1) Both conversion efficiencies with Gaussian pulses and rectangular pulses fluctuate with irradiation time, however the former fluctuation is slower and more gentle. (2) Pulse of output second harmonic fluctuates most remarkably at the center, where power density of incident fundamental is highest, in the Gaussian pulse. (3) As a result, pre-pulse and post-pulse are generated before and after the main pulse. (4) Such distortion of output pulse shape becomes more remarkable as power density increases.
In the harmonic generation using nonlinear optical crystals, phase-matching technique is indispensable for obtaining high conversion efficiency. As the first step of our study, we have investigated crystal temperature variation induced by laser absorption and its influence on conversion efficiency and beam profile in second harmonic generation (SHG) by solving the coupling problem composed of heat conduction equation and complex amplitude equations. In this study, we focused on the declination of irradiation angle of laser from the phase matching angle, which is equivalent to the declination of cut angle of crystal. The influences of angle declination and temperature rise of the crystal on SHG characteristics were examined by supposing KTiOPO4 (KTP) crystal. Main results obtained are as follows: When the angle declination is only 0.1 deg, conversion efficiency easily decreases to half that under perfect phase-matching condition. Significant distortion of output beam profile of second harmonic is also caused by the angle declination. This essential problem on output beam profile should be considered in precision microfabrication. Influences of angle declination and temperature change on phase mismatching are superposed. Our analysis is useful to elucidate such compounded and complicated phenomena in frequency conversion. A possibility of cancellation of phase mismatching due to angle declination by keeping crystal temperature higher than phase matching temperature was suggested through numerical examples.
Frequency conversion technique using nonlinear optical crystals is indispensible to solid-state laser applications. It is well known that the conversion efficiency is very sensitive to temperature change of crystal, which is caused by laser absorption. We have been analyzing problems of second harmonic generation (SHG) by coupling the electric field to the temperature field. In this study, temporal pulse-shape dependence of SHG was investigated theoretically, and Gaussian pulse and rectangular pulse were compared. Main conclusions obtained are as follows: (1) Both conversion efficiencies with Gaussian and rectangular pulses fluctuate with irradiation time, however the former fluctuation is slower and more gentle. (2) Pulse of output second harmonic fluctuates most remarkably at the center, where power density of incident fundamental is highest, in the Gaussian pulse. (3) As a result, pre-pulse and post-pulse are generated at both sides of the main pulse. (4) Such distortion of output pulse shape becomes more remarkable as power density increases.
Waveguide filters with extremely thermally stabilized KrF laser-induced gratings were fabricated in the highly photosensitive Ge-B-SiO2 thin films. It was discovered that a completely new-type grating with high diffraction efficiency and thermal stability could be formed by annealing a conventional laser-induced grating at 600°C. Such thermally induced gratings couldn't be erased after repeated heat treatment alternating between room temperature and 600°C. We printed a grating in slab waveguide by irradiation with a KrF excimer laser followed by the annealing at 600°C, and then formed the channel in the region of the grating using standard photolithography process. The diffraction peak of 17 dB in depth at 1535.04 nm wavelength was observed after repeated heat treatment alternating between room temperature and 400°C. These thermally stabilized waveguide filters are promising candidate for the highly reliable optical and sensing devices.
Femtosecond pulsed laser induced phase transition in iron was investigated using electron backscatter diffraction pattern (EBSP) analyzing system in this study. Mirror polished surface of single crystalline iron (purity: 99.99%) was irradiated by femtosecond pulsed laser (wavelength: 800 nm, pulse width: 120 fs, fluence: 2.5 J/cm2, intensity: 1.6x1013 W/cm2, number of pulses: 2000 pulses) in argon atmosphere. Electron beam irradiated the mirror polished vertical section by using colloidal silica under the bottom of the laser irradiated part, and the electron backscatter diffraction pattern was analyzed to determine the crystalline structure. ε phase of hcp structure found to exist around 4 μm deeper from the bottom. γ phase of fcc structure was not detected. This result shows the shock induced by femtosecond pulsed laser irradiation causes the α ↔ ε phase transition. It is suggested that this experimental method has a potential to investigate the existence and its crystalline structure of high pressure and high temperature phase of iron (β phase).
The investigation of laser induced forward transfer (LIFT) process using femtosecond pulsed laser comparing with that using excimer laser is reported. Ni thin film of several hundreds of nanometer thickness, which is deposited on fused silica substrate, was irradiated by single pulse of KrF excimer laser (wavelength: 248 nm, pulse width: 30 ns) or femtosecond pulsed laser (wavelength: 800 nm, pulse width: 120 fs), and transferred to a Si acceptor substrate. It is shown that laser beam profile affected the removal of thin film. It is revealed that adhesion of particles was inhibited using femtosecond pulsed laser in comparison with the case of excimer LIFT process.
Present study was performed to determine the welding conditions for sound welding, efficiency and process of bead formation using Yb fiber laser for ultra thin metal foil (SUS304, thickness: 10~60μm). The influence of assist gas was investigated by the measurement of bead width at different gas flow rate and the conditions of keyhole welding was estimated with metal foil. Relationship between experimental results and thermal conduction calculation based on moving line heat source model was also investigated. Sound lap welding of 20μm to 30μm thickness was obtained.
Frequency-conversion techniques such as SHG, THG and FOHG with nonlinear optical crystals are indispensable for the applications of solid-state lasers to precision microfabrication. It is well known that the conversion efficiency is very sensitive to the temperature rise of the crystal, which is induced by laser absorption. In this study, temperature dependence of SHG efficiency has been investigated theoretically, supposing Nd:YAG laser of uniform intensity and KDP (KH2PO4) crystal. The coupling problem composed of complex wave amplitude equations and one-dimensional heat conduction equation was analyzed. The complex wave amplitude equations were derived considering the absorption of laser in the crystal. The main results obtained are summarized as follows: (1) Decreasing of SHG efficiency due to laser absorption for the single pulse irradiation to a crystal of 10 mm long, is less than five percent. (2) When SHG efficiency is higher, temperature-rise of the crystal is smaller. Because absorption coefficient for the fundamental wave is larger than that of the second harmonic. (3) When the temperature of crystal rises due to repeated irradiation of pulse laser, SHG efficiency fluctuates and decreases gradually. Remarkable inverse-conversion of SHG appears during laser irradiation with high power density. (4) As either pulse width or irradiation time becomes longer, analytical SHG efficiency agrees with the approximate results obtained under the simple phase-mismatching conditions.
Laser ablation process of aluminum with the fourth harmonics of Nd:YAG laser is simulated, using the modified molecular dynamics method, which has been developed by Ohmura and Fukumoto. It has been clarified in the previous studies that there are two types in laser ablation process. One is explosive ablation and the other is calm ablation. In this paper, the ablation processes of these two types were visualized first by classifying the ablated atoms by the start time of scatter. It was cleared that the transition of kinetic and potential energies of ablated atoms and the energy ratio used for ablation to the absorbed energy depend on these ablation types. It was also verified that the transition of the number of ablated atoms and lumps of atoms also depend on the ablation types.
For the first step of our study, temperature dependence of SHG conversion efficiency has been analyzed theoretically on the supposition of uniform intensity beam. The results are presented in the paper appeared in the same proceedings. In this paper, the analysis was carried out two-dimensionally with an axisymmetrical model based on the previous one-dimensional model, applying the paraxial approximation. Two-dimensional temperature distribution induced by laser absorption and variation of the conversion efficiency of KDP crystals were analyzed quantitatively during repetition irradiation of pulse laser. Main results are summarized as follows: (1) Depending on SHG and its inverse conversion, temperature of the crystal with Gaussian beam irradiation fluctuates remarkably in the axial direction in the central part of crystal. (2) During repetition irradiation of Gaussian beam, heat conduction in the radial direction prevents temperature from rising in the central part of crystal. (3) The conversion efficiency for a Gaussian beam stays relatively high for a long period, compared with that for uniform beam.
In recent years, the microfabrication technology has splendidly been developing in the various industrial applications. It is effective that laser wavelength and pulse duration in laser microfabrication are shorter on the viewpoints of enhancement of spatial resolution and improvements of microfabrication quality. In this paper, we report on the ablation characteristics of the chromium thin film on quartz substrate (what is called Cr binary photomask) by using femtosecond laser (130fs Ti:sapphire laser). The diffraction pattern of laser intense distribution is observed in image printing with the optical rectangular slit, as the result of effects of minimized thermal diffusion with femtosecond laser pulses. We have obtained the Cr ablation without substrate damage with sufficiently wider ablation laser power range for multiple laser pulse irradiation, though ablation of the large band gap materials like quartz is easily caused due to the multi-photon absorption process in femtosecond laser irradiation. Further we indicated that ablation region does not depend on the diffraction limit with the femtosecond laser pulses.
Electron emission from the surface of copper target irradiated with femtsecond pulsed laser (wavelength 800nm, pulse width 100fs) was measured at the atmospheric pressure. A tiny metal probe was used to detect the electric potential made by the charged particles. It was found that the energy of emitted electrons became higher gradually when laser irradiation was repeated on the same spot.
On laser drilling of printed circuit board, one-dimensional non-steady heat conduction problem of two-layers composed of resin and metal was analyzed with the finite element method (FEM), considering resinous evaporation. Validity of analysis method was verified by comparing with experimental results. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) Proportionality between latent heat of evaporation and absorptivity can be obtained using the experimental results of removal quantity when resin is thick enough. These values can be estimated simultaneously by comparing analytical results by FEM and experimental results. (2) An equation for rough estimate of maximum removal velocity was derived. (3) Removal quantity is proportional to the number of shots, but its proportionality is lost after layer thickness reaches to absorption length, yielding smear in practical use. Residual smear is caused by heat conduction to substrate during pulse. (4) Removal quantity depends on fluence most, but hardly depends on repetition rate. When resin thickness is larger than absorption length, removal quantity per pulse is proportional to fluence. (5) Removal velocity becomes larger with shorter pulse width. When resin thickness is smaller than absorption length, residual thickness increases as pulse width becomes long.
Ablation phenomena when Gaussian beam of the fourth harmonics of Nd:YAG laser is irradiated to an aluminum substrate in picosecond were simulated using the modified molecule dynamics method that Ohmura and Fukumoto have developed. Scattering velocity of evaporation particles were displayed by vectors, and both molten pool and edge dislocations in the material were visualized. At the same time, the size and velocity distributions of the scattering particles, changes with time of the number of both evaporation atoms and particles, and angle distribution of them were examined quantitatively. Authors have already clarified that there are two types in ablation form. One is explosive ablation and the other is relatively calm ablation. The simulation results showed that the size and velocity of scattering particles and changes with time of the number of particles and atoms, and standard deviation of scattering angle and its transition depend on the ablation form. Even if ablation forms are different, it is common phenomena that ablation particles are divided during scattering process, therefore the number of particles increases gradually, and the scattering angle has a normal distribution.
In recent years, applications of solid-state lasers with conversion technique of the wavelength to precision microfabrication progress rapidly. When nonlinear optical crystal used for wavelength conversion absorbs laser beam, temperature of the crystal rises, and the conversion efficiency decreases. In this study, DKP crystal whose physical properties are well known was supposed for a nonlinear optical crystal. Temperature dependence of conversion was examined theoretically by numerical computations of heat conduction equation and wave equations. The temperature change of the crystal by Nd:YAG laser absorption, the local change of refractive index, and the consequential decreasing of SHG conversion efficiency were analysed. As a result, the temperature dependence of wavelength conversion became clear quantitatively. Difference of refractive indexes of the fundamental and the second harmonic becomes large when temperature of crystal rises due to laser irradiation, and conversion efficiency decreases.
Laser texturing on a hard disk for a computer has been already used practically, but the mechanism of bump formation has not been elucidated yet. The purpose of this study is to elucidate the mechanism of bump formation in laser texturing by thermohydrodynamics analysis. Latent heat of evaporation, movement of gas and liquid interface, evaporation recoil pressure, Marangoni force that depends on temperature gradient and the surface tension are considered. The VOF (Volume of Fluid) method is used for the analysis of behavior of the free surface. Obtained results are as follows : (1) The downward flow is generated in the molten pool by the evaporation recoil pressure, and then it induces the outward flow in the radial direction. (2) After laser irradiation is stopped, the downward flow at the center of the molten pool and the outward flow in the radial direction are kept. Therefore, the center of the molten pool is lowered and the surface rises around the hole, that is, a bump is formed. (3) When the temperature coefficient of surface tension is negative, Marangoni force is most effective to the surface rise when the resolidification starts outside of the bump.
Ultra-Short pulsed lasers are highly useful tools in the field of microfabrication. In microfabrication, the laser pulse usually is very short in the pico-second or subpico- second range: therefore, it is very difficult to observe the transient material processing phenomena experimentally. Over the years, the authors have conducted molecular dynamics (MD) simulation to study the ablation process with ultra-short pulsed laser irradiation. The MD method has been modified to simulate the laser ablation of metals by updating heat conduction effect by free electrons at each calculation time step. In this paper, a review of the modified MD simulations on ablation and shock phenomena for metal with pico-second laser irradiation is presented.
Recently, ultra-short pulsed lasers with high peak power have been developed, and their application to the materials processing is expected for a tool of precision microfabrication. During surface generation process with laser ablation, lattice defects such as dislocations, vacancies, grain boundaries, are also generated beneath the surface. Lattice defects influence the quality or accuracy of materials processing, therefore it is important for laser precision microfabrication to elucidate the generation mechanism of them. In this paper, laser ablation phenomena of metal were analyzed using the modified molecular dynamics method, which has been developed by Ohmura and Fukumoto. Main results obtained are summarized as follows: (1) The shock wave induced by the Gaussian beam irradiation propagates radially from the surface to the interior. (2) A lot of dislocations are generated near the surface by the propagation of shock wave. (3) Many grains are generated in the resolidification process after the end of laser pulse. They are metastable and some crystal-orientations of them change to one of the base metal and the grain boundaries disappear in the cooling process.
Rapid fusion and evaporation phenomena of silicon with ultrafast laser irradiation were simulated using the 3D molecular dynamics. Surface structure dependence of laser shock phenomena, fusion and evaporation process was examined for the Si(100) and Si(111) surface structures. It was shown that the crystal orientation influences the propagation velocity of shock wave and that heat conduction but laser absorption in the materials, that is, absorption coefficient affects the fusion depth when the pulse width is subpicosecond.
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