Dec 8 2009
Mobius Photonics, an innovative producer of short pulsed fiber laser sources (IR, green, and UV laser), has demonstrated a fiber laser tailored for precision materials processing. The Mobius Photonics laser produces high-quality, micron-scale cuts, scribes and holes for applications such as 50 micron silicon wafer dicing (for memory), scribing glass substrates and polyimide hole drilling.
"A goal of ours has been to construct a fiber laser that outperforms competitive methods for high-precision materials processing," said Manuel Leonardo, Mobius Photonics vice president of technology. "We've now demonstrated a laser that produces high-quality features in a variety of materials. Ultimately, we aim to improve a host of manufacturing applications in terms of speed, output quality and consistency."
While diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers have been evaluated for thin wafer dicing, their use has been hampered due to the die strength data; typically, 50 micron wafers diced with DPSS ultraviolet (UV) lasers have produced dies with significantly lower break strength vis a vis conventional mechanical methods. Said Leonardo, "Our laser is able to produce a similar high-quality cut and resulting die strength as conventional mechanical methods. It also cuts faster than mechanical methods and avoids the random chipping that those systems often create."
The Mobius Photonics laser also produces smooth, continuous scribe lines in glass substrates and generates 1-micron-diameter, uniform through holes in 25-micron-thick polyimide. Mobius Photonics' laser is based on an all-fiber-amplifier, master-oscillator, power amplifier (MOPA) architecture. This versatile, nanosecond source can produce several wavelengths and supports various pulse repetition frequencies and pulse widths.
Founded in 2005, Mobius Photonics, Inc. produces fiber-based laser sources for applications ranging from material processing for solar cell manufacturing, semiconductor fabrication and assembly, and flat panel display manufacturing, to scientific uses such as STED microscopy. The Mobius Photonics team combines in-depth understanding of customer needs with manufacturing experience, and pushes the state-of-the-art by working in close collaboration with suppliers and customers around the world.