Laser-induced Backside Wet Etching Process Research Articles

Sound-Based Depth Estimation of Glass Microchannel in Laser-Induced Backside Wet Etching Using Wavelet Transform

Laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) has been proposed to fabricate high-quality micromachined components on transparent materials. However, the process is limited by poor repeatability when fabricating high-aspect-ratio structures, even under the same conditions due to uncertainties arising from the thermal process and the complex mechanisms associated with the indirect irradiation of the etching process. Such errors could lead to redundant trials and wastages when trying to achieve the desired dimension. To identify the factors causing these variations, we targeted the process sounds generated during the etching. This study uses a microphone to measure factors that result in variations in material removal quantity during the etching process under the same conditions. The sound was filtered at frequencies between 3 and 6 kHz, which were selected as characteristic frequencies for the process under various laser conditions. By integrating the root mean squared value of the detail coefficient of the wavelet transform, the depth estimation closely matched the measured depth of the fabricated part. This finding suggests that determining the etching rate from sound at a certain characteristic frequency during the LIBWE process is feasible; this approach can improve the accuracy and repeatability of the process. Based on this estimation mechanism, we designed a closed-loop feedback control system capable of fabricating highly accurate microchannels in the range of 80–120 μm with a maximum error of 5.6%.

Three dimensional material removal model of laser-induced backside wet etching of sapphire substrate with CuSO4 solutions

The mechanism of laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) of sapphire substrate with CuSO4 solution is considered as a two-step process. First, it deposits the layer from copper sulfate solution on the backside of sapphire substrate by 1064nm laser irradiation. Then it is followed by the absorption of deposited layer to laser irradiation, resulting in the etching of the sapphire. Therefore, the material removal of LIBWE is based on laser interaction with multilayer materials (sapphire substrate--deposition layer--liquid solution). A three-dimensional thermal model is established to simulate the material removal during the LIBWE process by considering the material data variations of temperature, enthalpy change and latent heat fusion. The model can predict the groove shape influenced by the laser processing parameters (laser fluence, scanning velocity and scanning pass). The simulation results indicate that the groove depth increases with the decreasing of scanning velocity, the increasing of laser fluence and the scanning pass. The groove width is comparable with the focal beam diameter. Some peaks and valleys occur at the bottom of the groove. A comparison between the modeling and experiment indicates that the groove shape in simulation agrees well with the experiment data at laser pulse energy of 4.3mJ/pulse, scanning velocity of 15mm/s and the scanning pass of 4. i.e, the present physical model is effective and feasible.

Effect of liquid environment on laser-induced backside wet etching of fused silica

In laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE), the liquid absorbent indirectly heats the transparent material, causing explosive phase change and cavitation. Accordingly, the hydrodynamics of the absorbing liquid, including the size of the liquid chamber, is strongly related to the ablation process. Because the hydrodynamics is dependent on the elastic deformation of the sample, the sample thickness also affects the performance of LIBWE. In this work, experimental analyses were performed to elucidate the hydrodynamics in LIBWE and the effect on the etch rate by varying the liquid chamber size and sample thickness. A KrF excimer laser was used to ablate fused silica samples in toluene and the etch rate was quantified using a scanning profilometer. Laser flash shadowgraphy and photodeflection probing techniques were employed for in situ measurement of the laser-induced hydrodynamics and displacement of the sample, respectively, with a time resolution of approximately nanoseconds. To directly observe the effect of increased liquid pressure on LIBWE, the liquid pressure on the etching spot was locally increased by an external shock wave and the etch results are examined. This study confirms that the photomechanical effects from the laser-induced bubble plays a key role in the LIBWE process, revealing a linear relationship between the etch rate the applied recoil momentum. However, the dependence of the etch rate on the chamber size and sample thickness could not be explained by the change in recoil momentum, i.e., by the bubble pressure. Instead, transient deformation of the sample by the pressure impact was estimated to be mainly responsible for the dependence.

The influence of laser-induced surface modifications on the backside etching process

Spectroscopic measurements in the UV/VIS region show reduced transmission through laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) of fused silica. Absorption coefficients of up to 10 5 cm −1 were calculated from the transmission measurements for a solid surface layer of about 50 nm. The temperatures near the interface caused by laser pulse absorption, which were analytically calculated using a new thermal model considering interface and liquid volume absorption, can reach 10 4 K at typical laser fluences. The high absorption coefficients and the extreme temperatures give evidence for an ablation-like process that is involved in the LIBWE process causing the etching of the modified near-surface region. The confinement of the ablation/etching process to the modified near-surface material region can account for the low etch rates observed in comparison to front-side ablation.

In situ reflectivity investigations of solid/liquid interface during laser backside etching

Abstract In situ reflectivity measurements of the solid/liquid interface with a pump-probe setup were performed during laser-induced backside wet etching (LIBWE) of fused silica with KrF excimer laser using toluene as absorbing liquid. The intensity, the temporal shape, and the duration of the reflected light measured in dependence on the laser fluence are discussed referring to the surface modification and the bubble formation. The vaporisation of the superheated liquid at the solid interface causes a considerable increase of the reflectivity and gives information about the bubble lifetime. The alterations of the reflectivity after bubbles collapse can be explained with the changed optical properties due to surface modifications of the solid surface. Comparative studies of the reflectivity at different times and the etch rate behaviour in dependence on the laser fluence show that the in situ measured surface modification begins just at the etch threshold fluence and correlates further with etch rate behaviour and the etched surface appearance. The already observed surface modification at LIBWE due to a carbon deposition and structural changes of the near surface region are approved by the changes of the interface reflectivity and emphasizes the importance of the modified surface region in the laser-induced backside wet etching process.