Acousto-optic deflector applications in laser processing of dielectric or other materials
First Claim
1. A system comprising:
- an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) subsystem including;
a first AOD arranged to receive a laser beam input to the AOD subsystem, wherein the first AOD is operative to generate an acoustic waveform therein sufficient to diffract the input laser beam in a first direction and thereby output a first diffracted laser beam when driven by a first radio frequency (RF) signal;
a second AOD arranged to receive the first diffracted beam, wherein the second AOD is operative to generate an acoustic waveform therein sufficient to diffract the first diffracted laser beam in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction when driven by a second RF signal and thereby output a second diffracted laser beam from the AOD subsystem;
a computer coupled to the first AOD and the second AOD and operative to execute machine-readable instructions to control an operation of the first AOD and the second AOD; and
a non-transitory machine-readable medium coupled to the computer, the machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the computer, cause at least one selected from the group consisting of the first AOD and the second AOD to generate therein a chirped acoustic waveform.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A laser processing system for micromachining a workpiece includes a laser source to generate laser pulses for processing a feature in a workpiece, a galvanometer-driven (galvo) subsystem to impart a first relative movement of a laser beam spot position along a processing trajectory with respect to the surface of the workpiece, and an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) subsystem to effectively widen a laser beam spot along a direction perpendicular to the processing trajectory. The AOD subsystem may include a combination of AODs and electro-optic deflectors. The AOD subsystem may vary an intensity profile of laser pulses as a function of deflection position along a dither direction to selectively shape the feature in the dither direction. The shaping may be used to intersect features on the workpiece. The AOD subsystem may also provide rastering, galvo error position correction, power modulation, and/or through-the-lens viewing of and alignment to the workpiece.
94 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A system comprising:
an acousto-optic deflector (AOD) subsystem including; a first AOD arranged to receive a laser beam input to the AOD subsystem, wherein the first AOD is operative to generate an acoustic waveform therein sufficient to diffract the input laser beam in a first direction and thereby output a first diffracted laser beam when driven by a first radio frequency (RF) signal; a second AOD arranged to receive the first diffracted beam, wherein the second AOD is operative to generate an acoustic waveform therein sufficient to diffract the first diffracted laser beam in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction when driven by a second RF signal and thereby output a second diffracted laser beam from the AOD subsystem; a computer coupled to the first AOD and the second AOD and operative to execute machine-readable instructions to control an operation of the first AOD and the second AOD; and a non-transitory machine-readable medium coupled to the computer, the machine-readable medium having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the computer, cause at least one selected from the group consisting of the first AOD and the second AOD to generate therein a chirped acoustic waveform. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
Specification