Micromachining Ultrafast Lasers

Spectra-Physics is a market leader for ultrafast lasers.  With thousands of industrial lasers deployed in demanding manufacturing applications, Spectra-Physics delivers highest reliability for dependable multi-year operation to advance micromachining production applications.

Ultrashort Pulse Laser Micromachining

Laser Requirements for Micromachining

One of the challenges for laser micromachining is removing only the desired material, usually through localized heating, while at the same time minimizing the extent of the HAZ to any of the remaining material. Delivering laser irradiation with near-perfect beam quality precisely to the target region is a necessary step to achieving this desired result. Shorter wavelengths and shorter pulse widths are advantageous to achieving higher-quality results. Wavelengths in the VIS and UV spectral regions, for example, are more readily absorbed in most materials, resulting in shallow absorption depths and a significantly reduced HAZ. UV lasers also can be focused into tighter spots for smaller, more precisely machined features, and they have longer depth-of-focus for improved process yields. Ultrashort pulse widths in the ps and fs regime yield intense peak powers that result in nonlinear absorption at the sample for instantaneous material vaporization, very minimal heat transfer into the material, and a negligible HAZ. This process, commonly referred to as a "cold ablation" process, is depicted below. Please see Newport.com for additional information on Laser Micromachining.
The impact of laser pulse width on machining quality for a long pulse ms laser (left) versus an ultrashort pulse laser (right)

ps Micromachining Lasers

Description Pulse Width Power Pulse Energy Rep Rate

IceFyre®
Versatile UV, Green and IR Picosecond Lasers: The New Standard for Picosecond Micromachining

<12 ps

<15 ps
>50 W UV
>30 W UV
>50 W GR
>50 W IR
>40 µJ
>60 µJ
>100 µJ
>200 µJ
1-10 MHz

fs Micromachining Lasers

Description Pulse Width Power Pulse Energy Rep Rate

IceFyre®FS
Breakthrough High-Power UV and IR Femtosecond Lasers for 24/7 Micromachining of Critical Materials

<500 fs >50 W UV
>200 W IR
>50 µJ
>200 µJ
1-3 MHz
1-50 MHZ

Spirit®
High Power Femtosecond Lasers Standard for High-Precision Micromachining

<400 fs >30 W
>16 W
>8 W
>120 µJ
>120 µJ
>40 µJ
250 kHz or 1 MHz
100, 200 kHz or 1 MHz
200 kHz or 1 MHz

Solstice® Ace™
High Energy, Industrial Ultrafast Amplifiers

<35 fs-
<120 fs
>8 W >1.6 mJ 1-10 kHz
femtoTrain™
Highest Peak Power Femtosecond Oscillator
<220 fs >5.0 W >500 nJ 10 MHz
HighQ-2™
Fixed Wavelength Femtosecond Lasers Ultracompact, Air-cooled
<250 fs >1.5 W >24 nJ  63 MHz