Systems and methods for forming apertures in microfeature workpieces
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsCharles Watkins, William Hiatt
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods for forming apertures in microfeature workpieces are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method includes directing a laser beam toward a microfeature workpiece to form an aperture and sensing the laser beam pass through the microfeature workpiece in real time. The method can further include determining a number of pulses of the laser beam and/or an elapsed time to form the aperture and controlling the laser beam based on the determined number of pulses and/or the determined elapsed time to form a second aperture in the microfeature workpiece.
Claims24
1-11. (canceled)
A method for forming a plurality of production apertures in a microfeature workpiece, the method comprising:
- ablating the microfeature workpiece by directing pulses of a laser beam to form a test aperture in the microfeature workpiece;
- automatically determining a number of pulses of the laser beam and/or an elapsed time to form the test aperture;
- and
- automatically controlling the laser beam based on the determined number of pulses and/or the determined elapsed time to form a plurality of production apertures in the microfeature workpiece.
A method for forming a plurality of apertures in a microfeature workpiece, the method comprising:
- impinging a laser beam upon the microfeature workpiece to form a first aperture;
- sensing the laser beam pass through the microfeature workpiece with a sensor;
- and
- forming a second aperture by controlling the laser beam based on a determined number of pulses of the laser beam to form the first aperture and/or a determined elapsed time to form the first aperture.
30-42. (canceled)
A system for forming a plurality of production apertures in a microfeature workpiece, the system comprising:
- a laser configured to produce a laser beam along a beam path;
- an electromagnetic radiation sensor positioned along the beam path to sense the laser beam;
- a workpiece carrier configured to selectively position the microfeature workpiece in the beam path before the electromagnetic radiation sensor;
- and
- a controller operably coupled to the laser, the electromagnetic radiation sensor, and the workpiece carrier, the controller having a computer-readable medium containing instructions to perform a method comprising
- ablating the microfeature workpiece by directing pulses of a laser beam to form a test aperture in the microfeature workpiece;
- determining a number of pulses of the laser beam and/or an elapsed time to form the test aperture;
- and
- controlling the laser beam based on the determined number of pulses and/or the determined elapsed time to form the plurality of production apertures in the microfeature workpiece.
46-50. (canceled)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.