Apparatus for controlled ablation by laser radiation
First Claim
1. An apparatus for removing, by ablation, material from an object which includes said material, said apparatus comprising:
- first laser means (14) for generating laser radiation pulses having a wavelength in a first wavelength range suitable for removing said material from said object by ablation to produce ablated material;
second laser means (16) for generating laser radiation having a wavelength in a second wavelength range suitable to induce resonance fluorescence in said ablated material producing resonance fluorescence radiation;
radiation analyzer means (22) for analyzing the fluorescence radiation stemming from said ablated material; and
optical radiation transmitting means (12,12d) for transmitting radiation, said radiation transmitting means including a first optical path to transmit said radiation pulses from said first laser means (14) to a location on said object from which material is to be removed to produce said ablated material in a volume (21) adjacent said location, a second optical path to transmit said radiation from said second laser means (16) to said volume (21) to induce resonance fluorescence, and a third optical path to transmit said resonance fluorescence radiation from said volume (21) of ablated material to said radiation analyzer means (22).
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus for controlled ablation of material from a predetermined working point, comprising a first laser, in particular excimer laser, for generating laser radiation pulses having a wavelength in a wavelength range suitable for the ablation, in particular in the ultraviolet spectral range, further comprising a radiation analyzer such as a spectrometer for analysis of material-specific radiation from the ablation plume forming at the working point, and a second laser, in particular a tunable dye laser, for generating a further laser radiation in a wavelength range which is different from said first wavelength range and which is better suited for the resonant stimulation of the radiation serving for the analysis than the ablation radiation wavelength range.
49 Citations
12 Claims
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1. An apparatus for removing, by ablation, material from an object which includes said material, said apparatus comprising:
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first laser means (14) for generating laser radiation pulses having a wavelength in a first wavelength range suitable for removing said material from said object by ablation to produce ablated material; second laser means (16) for generating laser radiation having a wavelength in a second wavelength range suitable to induce resonance fluorescence in said ablated material producing resonance fluorescence radiation; radiation analyzer means (22) for analyzing the fluorescence radiation stemming from said ablated material; and optical radiation transmitting means (12,12d) for transmitting radiation, said radiation transmitting means including a first optical path to transmit said radiation pulses from said first laser means (14) to a location on said object from which material is to be removed to produce said ablated material in a volume (21) adjacent said location, a second optical path to transmit said radiation from said second laser means (16) to said volume (21) to induce resonance fluorescence, and a third optical path to transmit said resonance fluorescence radiation from said volume (21) of ablated material to said radiation analyzer means (22). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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Specification