Jul 14 2009
Deep Photonics, the ultra fast fiber laser company for the semiconductor, electronics and photovoltaic marketplace, announced the opening of a new materials processing applications lab at its corporate headquarters in Corvallis, Oregon. The 1,500 sq. ft. clean room enables Deep Photonics to work closely with OEMs and manufacturers to test material samples and develop processes with Deep's picosecond fiber lasers. The lab will demonstrate how ultra fast fiber lasers are a unique and superior processing solution for a wide range of materials, including historically difficult-to-process materials for conventional nanosecond lasers, such as thin films, glasses, dielectrics and metals.
The facility includes state-of-the-art automation and analysis tools for inspection/measurement of processed materials including a linear stage in the clean room provided by Primatics Corporation of Tangent, Oregon. This high-accuracy, high-throughput stage allows Deep Photonics to develop film side scribing for a-Si solar thin films at over 2 meters per second and deliver that process to OEM's building systems for the thin film scribing for the solar industry. Customers can access FIB (Focused Ion Beam) images, a profile meter and a variety of optical and electrical measurements of their samples the same day greatly reducing the cycle time for process development.
In the lab, customers also have access to Deep Photonics lasers including the FLP-1064-PPP, FLP-532-PPP and the FLP-355-PPP infrared, visible and ultra violet fiber laser which combines high output power with outstanding stability and reliability needed for demanding laser applications. The lasers feature Picosecond Packet Pulsing (P³) technology, providing a significant innovation in cold ablation of materials. P³ technology delivers extremely accurate depth control with pulse packet energy effective for a variety of materials currently being utilized by the semiconductor, electronics and solar industry. This proprietary pulsing technology provides an optimum combination of precise, efficient material ablation while virtually eliminating the destructive effects due to thermal heating of adjacent material. The lab is well equipped with optics, stages, microscopes and the other tools required to do process development. It is staffed by process engineers and laser scientists with years of experience in laser materials interaction.
"Deep Photonics' new laser technology provides advanced, compact, efficient and long life lasers and an alternative to nanosecond laser technology," said Joe Lachapelle, founder and CEO of Deep Photonics. "Our new applications lab brings together our advanced laser technology with the expertise of our industrial customers to process materials more effectively using picosecond fiber laser products. While we are targeting the many known applications for lasers, like dicing, drilling and scribing, we are also learning the potential of ultra fast lasers for many industrial markets. With the opening of our new facility, customers have a means to test and deliver these new applications to the market."