Photonic milling using dynamic beam arrays
First Claim
1. A laser processing system comprising:
- a beam positioning system to align beam delivery coordinates relative to a workpiece, the beam positioning system generating position data corresponding to the alignment;
a pulsed laser source;
a beamlet generation module to receive a laser pulse from the pulsed laser source, and to generate from the laser pulse a beamlet array comprising a plurality of beamlet pulses;
a beamlet modulator to modulate the amplitude of each beamlet pulse in the beamlet array; and
beamlet delivery optics to focus the modulated beamlet array onto one or more targets at locations on the workpiece corresponding to the position data;
wherein the beamlet generation module comprises a discretely banded reflectivity plate comprising;
a first surface comprising a first plurality of respectively reflective bands; and
a second surface comprising a second plurality of respectively reflective bands;
wherein the first surface is configured to;
receive the laser pulse into the discretely banded reflectivity plate; and
successively reflect diminishing portions of the laser pulse received from the second surface back into the discretely banded reflectivity plate toward the second surface; and
wherein the second surface is configured to;
successively transmit a first part and reflect a second part of the diminishing portions of the laser pulse received from the first surface, the transmitted first part corresponding to respective beamlet pulses in the beamlet array.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A laser processing system includes a beam positioning system to align beam delivery coordinates relative to a workpiece. The beam positioning system generates position data corresponding to the alignment. The system also includes a pulsed laser source and a beamlet generation module to receive a laser pulse from the pulsed laser source. The beamlet generation module generates a beamlet array from the laser pulse. The beamlet array includes a plurality of beamlet pulses. The system further includes a beamlet modulator to selectively modulate the amplitude of each beamlet pulse in the beamlet array, and beamlet delivery optics to focus the modulated beamlet array onto one or more targets at locations on the workpiece corresponding to the position data.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A laser processing system comprising:
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a beam positioning system to align beam delivery coordinates relative to a workpiece, the beam positioning system generating position data corresponding to the alignment; a pulsed laser source; a beamlet generation module to receive a laser pulse from the pulsed laser source, and to generate from the laser pulse a beamlet array comprising a plurality of beamlet pulses; a beamlet modulator to modulate the amplitude of each beamlet pulse in the beamlet array; and beamlet delivery optics to focus the modulated beamlet array onto one or more targets at locations on the workpiece corresponding to the position data; wherein the beamlet generation module comprises a discretely banded reflectivity plate comprising; a first surface comprising a first plurality of respectively reflective bands; and a second surface comprising a second plurality of respectively reflective bands; wherein the first surface is configured to; receive the laser pulse into the discretely banded reflectivity plate; and successively reflect diminishing portions of the laser pulse received from the second surface back into the discretely banded reflectivity plate toward the second surface; and wherein the second surface is configured to; successively transmit a first part and reflect a second part of the diminishing portions of the laser pulse received from the first surface, the transmitted first part corresponding to respective beamlet pulses in the beamlet array. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A laser processing system comprising:
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a beam positioning system to align beam delivery coordinates relative to a workpiece, the beam positioning system generating position data corresponding to the alignment; a pulsed laser source; a beamlet generation module to receive a laser pulse from the pulsed laser source, and to generate from the laser pulse a beamlet array comprising a plurality of beamlet pulses; a beamlet modulator to modulate the amplitude of each beamlet pulse in the beamlet array; and beamlet delivery optics to focus the modulated beamlet array onto one or more targets at locations on the workpiece corresponding to the position data; wherein the beamlet generation module comprises; a first quarter wave plate to receive the laser pulse, and to convert the laser pulse from a linear polarization to a circular polarization; a polarizing beamsplitter cube comprising a first channel, a second channel, and an output surface, the polarizing beamsplitter cube configured to transmit a first portion of the circularly polarized laser beam through the output surface as a first beamlet pulse in the beamlet array, and to transmit a second portion of the circularly polarized laser beam into the first channel; a second quarter wave plate to transmit the second portion of the circularly polarized laser beam to a first mirror, and to receive a reflection from the first mirror to thereby convert the reflection from the first mirror into a p-polarized beam passed back to the polarizing beamsplitter cube, wherein the polarizing beamsplitter cube transmits the p-polarized beam through the second channel; and a third quarter wave plate to transmit the p-polarized beam to a second mirror, to receive a reflection from the second mirror, and to transmit the reflection from the second mirror back to the polarizing beamsplitter cube, wherein the polarizing beamsplitter cube transmits the beam received from the third quarter wave plate through the output surface as a second beamlet pulse in the beamlet array. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A laser processing system comprising:
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a beam positioning system to align beam delivery coordinates relative to a workpiece, the beam positioning system generating position data corresponding to the alignment; a pulsed laser source; a beamlet generation module to receive a laser pulse from the pulsed laser source, and to generate from the laser pulse a beamlet array comprising a plurality of beamlet pulses; a beamlet modulator to modulate the amplitude of each beamlet pulse in the beamlet array; and beamlet delivery optics to focus the modulated beamlet array onto one or more targets at locations on the workpiece corresponding to the position data; wherein the pulsed laser source comprises; a photonic oscillator to emit laser pulses at a first pulse repetition frequency, the first pulse repetition frequency providing a reference timing signal for coordination of the beam positioning system for the alignment of the beam delivery coordinates relative to the workpiece; and a first optical modulator to select, at a second pulse repetition frequency that is lower than the first pulse repetition frequency, a subset of the laser pulses for amplification, wherein the selection of the laser pulses included in the subset is based on the first pulse repetition frequency and the position data. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification