Studying the mechanism of micromachining by short pulsed laser

The semiconductor materials like Si and the transparent dielectric materials like glass and quartz are extensively used in optoelectronics, microelectronics, and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) industries. The combination of these materials often go hand in hand for applications in MEMS such as in chips for pressure sensors, charge coupled devices (CCD), and photovoltaic (PV) cells for solar energy generation. The transparent negative terminal of the solar cell is made of glass on one surface of the PV cell. The positive terminal (cathode) on the other surface of the solar cell is made of silicon with a glass negative terminal (anode). The digital watches and cell phones, LEDs, micro-lens, optical components, and laser optics are other examples for the application of silicon and or glass. The Si and quartz are materials extensively used in CCD and LED for digital cameras and CD players respectively. Hence, three materials: (1) a semiconductor silicon and transparent dielectrics,- (2) glass, and (3) quartz are chosen for laser micromachining as they have wide spread applications in microelectronics industry. The Q-switched, nanosecond pulsed lasers are most extensively used for micro-machining. The nanosecond type of short pulsed laser is less expensive for the end users than the second type, pico or femto, ultra-short pulsed lasers. The majority of the research work done on these materials (Si, SiO 2, and glass) is based on the ultra-short pulsed lasers. This is because of the cut quality, pin point precision of the drilled holes, formation of the nanometer size microstructures and fine features, and minimally invasive heat affected zone. However, there are many applications such as large surface area dicing, cutting, surface cleaning of Si wafers by ablation, and drilling of relatively large-sized holes where some associated heat affected zone due to melting can be tolerated. In such applications the nanosecond pulsed laser ablation of materials is very economical, because the micromachining rates are much higher than in the case of the ultra-short pulsed lasers. Hence, studying the mechanisms of micromachining by nanosecond pulsed laser of semiconductor silicon, transparent dielectric glass and quartz is undertaken for this research work.;Laser drilling of an array of miniaturized micro holes is termed as laser micro via. A study of the effect of laser wavelengths, frequency, and energy of the pulses on the depth and diameter of craters and micro via are carried out using high resolution optical microscopy and a nano via 3D profiler. Analytical equations correlating depth and volume of the crater in terms of the optical absorption coefficient and ratio of peak applied to the threshold fluence for ablation of the silicon are derived. The depth of crater is scaled in terms of optical penetration depth times the ratio of crater diameter to the beam diameter. The shorter UV wavelengths are found to be more suitable for ablation of Si and SiO2 than longer IR wavelengths from the study of the absorption coefficient of Si varying with wavelength. Hence, the UV lasers (266 nm or 355 nm) are used for micromachining of Si and SiO2 involving cutting, cleaning, drilling and dicing, micro-milling and texturing of submicron size vertically oriented silicon wires for photovoltaic applications. The high density vertical wires are useful to grab a greater density of solar energy to generate more environmentally-friendly green power.;The laser drilling of micro via can be typically of two types: (1) percussion drilling using a stationary laser beam with single or multiple pulses of the laser or (2) trepanned drilling of micro via by the circular motion of laser. Numerical simulation of dynamic drilling of laser micro via of silicon is performed, using control volume (FV) Fluent code in a Cartesian co-ordinate system. Total enthalpy formulation is used to simulate the phase change taking place during the laser ablation process from melting to vaporization. The first part of the simulation is devoted to heat and mass transfer with melting and solidification of silicon in micro via. The liquid fraction of silicon formed at any instant of time during melting and solidification is predicted from Scheil's equation. The solidification and melting module of the Fluent software is extended to encompass the laser ablation phenomenon.