The research group of laser-matter interaction at the Institute of Intense Lasers and Applications (CELIA) at the University of Bordeaux, France, has explored a new glass micro-drilling method using a femtosecond laser.
The research team used a femtosecond laser from Amplitude operating in the GHz-burst regime to study a new glass micromachining method which allows for drilling taper-free, elongated holes with smooth inner walls without any cracks in the glass.
Usually, laser drilling with standard single femtosecond pulses results in tapered holes of strongly limited length and rough inner surface.
However, the laser-matter interaction of the GHz-burst regime makes it possible to directly drill holes of high aspect ratio in a single step without any chemical etching.
The choice of the laser-burst parameters was revealed to be very important in order to achieve an outstanding micromachining quality of the machined structures. Consequently, materials processing using femtosecond lasers in GHz-burst mode could pave the way for new applications such as microelectronics where silicon interposers are likely to be replaced by glass interposers.
The work was reported in the article “Exploring a new glass micro-drilling method using a femtosecond laser in GHz-burst mode”, published in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing on 29 December.