| Femtosecond Laser Micromachining (FLM) has been an attractive tool due to its expected and already demonstrated processing capabilities and advantages. It has widespread application in fields such as microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), micro-optics, microelectronics, biomedicine and many others. The fields and number of possible applications is daily increasing.; Unique properties of ultra short laser pulses have resulted in excellent machining of materials in terms of precision and minimal thermal damage in the heat affected zone. The increased intensity of a femtosecond pulse results from the extremely short duration of the pulse, and is capable of causing ablation through direct evaporation with no intermediate liquid phase.; Research in FLM has synthesized knowledge of various fields including thermal engineering, heat transfer, material science, chemical kinetics, atomic physics and optics. In this thesis concepts pivotal to the practical implementation of the FLM process are discussed. The aim of this research work is to identify the process parameters that affect the topography of micromachined features on silicon wafers using femtosecond laser pulses. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
