Method of and apparatus for cutting a substrate or preparing a substrate for cleaving

Abstract

The present application relates to a method (100) for use in cutting a substrate or preparing a substrate for cleaving. The method (100) comprises: irradiating (102) the substrate with a plurality of pulses of a laser beam, the pulses having a pulse duration of less than a nanosecond and an elongate cross sectional spatial profile, and wherein the fluence of the plurality of pulses is controlled to be less than a single shot damage threshold fluence of the substrate; providing (104) relative movement between the laser beam and the substrate such that the plurality of pulses are arranged along a cutting path; and controlling (106) the relative movement such that each of the pulses is spatially overlapped with at least one other of the pulses along the cutting path. An apparatus having a laser system configured to perform the method (100) is also disclosed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.