Coated substrate and process for cutting a coated substrate
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsMichael M. Li, Anthony J. Richter, Yulei Sun, Raul A. Molina
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Abstract
A system and method of forming a sapphire component. The method may include disposing an absorptive-barrier layer on a first surface of a sapphire substrate, performing a cut in the sapphire substrate using a laser beam incident on the absorptive-barrier layer, and forming and removing molten sapphire from the cut. The method may also include shielding a region of the first surface that is adjacent to the cut from the molten sapphire using the absorptive-barrier layer, and removing the absorptive-barrier layer from the first surface of the sapphire substrate.
Claims15
A method for forming a sapphire component, the method comprising:
- selectively applying an absorptive-barrier layer that is confined to a first area of a surface of an optically transparent sapphire substrate;
- initiating a fusion cut at the first area by:
- irradiating the absorptive-barrier layer with a laser beam;
- absorbing, by the absorptive-barrier layer, heat energy from the laser beam;
- and
- forming a region of molten sapphire at the first area using the heat energy absorbed by the absorptive-barrier layer;
- continuing the fusion cut by advancing the laser beam through the first area to a second area of the surface outside the first area of the optically transparent sapphire substrate;
- removing molten sapphire from the fusion cut while continuing the fusion cut;
- and
- removing the absorptive-barrier layer from the first area.
A method of cutting a sapphire component, the method comprising:
- selectively applying an absorptive-barrier layer to a first area of a surface of an optically transparent a sapphire substrate, the absorptive-barrier layer being confined to the first area;
- initiating a fusion cut through the optically transparent sapphire substrate at the first area by:
- irradiating the absorptive-barrier layers using a laser beam incident on the absorptive-barrier layer;
- and
- transferring heat energy from the laser beam absorbed the first absorptive-barrier layer to the first area to form molten sapphire at the first area;
- continuing the fusion cut by advancing the laser beam through the first area to a second area of the surface outside the first area of the optically transparent sapphire substrate;
- and
- cutting through the optically transparent sapphire substrate at the second area using the laser.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.