Enhanced ablation and dicing process on silicon wafer using experimental passive Q-switch two-micron laser.

Tomer Kotzero; Vlad Ariel Sherbina; Dor Yeroshalmy; Asher Perez; Irit Juwiler; Salman Noach

doi:10.1117/12.3022679

20 June 2024 Enhanced ablation and dicing process on silicon wafer using experimental passive Q-switch two-micron laser.

Tomer Kotzero, Vlad Ariel Sherbina, Dor Yeroshalmy, Asher Perez, Irit Juwiler, Salman Noach

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 13005, Laser + Photonics for Advanced Manufacturing; 130050Z (2024) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3022679
Event: SPIE Photonics Europe, 2024, Strasbourg, France

Conference Poster

Abstract

We present simulation and experimental results of the ablation and dicing process of a silicon wafer using a passive Q-switch nanosecond (ns) Tm: YAP lab laser operating at a wavelength of 1.940μm. This study aims to show that in the 2μm range lasers, high precision in the silicon ablation process can be achieved and can compete with existing industrial lasers in the ultraviolet or near-infrared range. At low fluences, silicon appears to be transparent when irradiated by 2μm lasers. Above a fluence threshold of 3.8J/cm², third-order nonlinear effects, such as the lens converging Kerr n₂ and the two-photon absorption β_TPA effects, turn the silicon into an absorbing medium, improving the ablation process. At room temperature of 300°K, n₂ = 12×10⁻⁵±2.0×10⁻⁵cm²/GW and β_TPA = 0.56±0.02cm/GW, the resulting nonlinear factor of merit NFOM = 2.1 ± 2.0 is very large; conferring a self-focusing lensing action on the silicon. Based on a Comsol simulation, we observe that the silicon/Q-switch laser interaction shows that the Kerr effect reduces the diameter of the ongoing gaussian laser beam. The simulation corroborated with theoretical models confirms that the nonlinear factor of merit (NFOM) presents a maximum at 1.940μm. By varying the fluence intensity, we demonstrate the laser’s ability to engrave silicon surfaces with a series of pulses. Moreover, we also highlight the impact of TPA effects competing with the focusing Kerr effect in the ablation process, deviating from the linear power law. Our findings provide valuable insights into optimizing laser parameters specifically for drilling and dicing applications.

(2024) Published by SPIE. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Citation Download Citation

Tomer Kotzero, Vlad Ariel Sherbina, Dor Yeroshalmy, Asher Perez, Irit Juwiler, and Salman Noach "Enhanced ablation and dicing process on silicon wafer using experimental passive Q-switch two-micron laser.", Proc. SPIE 13005, Laser + Photonics for Advanced Manufacturing, 130050Z (20 June 2024); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3022679

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