Laser Micromachining - Resonetics Maestro 1000

An excimer laser uses a specific mixture of gases to produce high-intensity, short pulses of UV light. This gas mixture is rapidly recirculated across electrodes where a large voltage is applied to excite the gas molecules. The relaxation of the molecules from an excited state releases high intensity photons at a certain wavelength. Two finely polished mirrors reflect this light back and forth within the gas medium to maximize the intensity of the beam. A series of mirrors and an objective lens delivers the resulting 200 nanosecond pulses to the surface of your selected substrate.

Material under the focused beam is vaporized in about 100 nanoseconds, and the resulting gas quickly expands and carries most of the heat away from the sample. Features sizes from about 4 millimeters to as small as 2 microns can be etched into nearly any type of material (from silicon to diamond!). Ten microns or larger features can even be drilled entirely through a substrate.

This system can be operated at either 248 nm and 193 nm depending on the absorption properties of the material to be used in the fabrication. The maximum output power is 80 W at 248 nm and 30 W at 193 nm