Method and apparatus for aligning a work piece in a laser drilling system

A method for aligning a workpiece in a laser drilling system, comprising;

• providing a workpiece holder having a front side, a back side, and a through hole passing from the front side to the back side;
• mounting a workpiece onto the front side of the workpiece holder, the workpiece having a front planar surface and a back planar surface and orientated such that a portion of the back planar surface aligns with the through hole formed in the front side of the workpiece holder;
• propagating an alignment beam of light towards the back side of the workpiece holder, the alignment beam passing through the through hole and being reflected by the portion of the back planar surface which aligns with the through hole, thereby forming a reflected beam of light;
• measuring a reflection angle of the reflected beam;
• and
• determining alignment information for the workpiece based on the measured reflection angle of the reflected beam.

An alignment system for a workpiece associated with a laser drilling apparatus, comprising:

• a workpiece holder adapted to mount a workpiece thereon, the workpiece holder having a front side, a back side, and a through hole passing from the front side to the back side.
• an alignment light source operable to propagate an alignment beam of light, the alignment beam being directed towards the back side of the workpiece holder and incident the workpiece via the through hole in the workpiece holder, thereby forming a reflected beam of light;
• a light detector positioned proximate to the alignment light source, the light detector operable to detect the reflected beam and to determine a distance between the alignment beam and the reflected beam;
• and
• an alignment mechanism adapted to receive the distance from the light detector and determine alignment information for the workpiece.