Laser Processing Apparatus, Laser Processing Method, and Method For Making Settings For Laser Processing Apparatus

A laser processing apparatus capable of directing laser light to a to-be-processed surface for performing processing in a desired processing pattern, the laser processing apparatus comprising:

• a light source;
• a laser medium which is placed in a resonator for laser light and is excited by the light-source light from the light source to generate laser light;
• a Q switch which is placed on the optical axis of the laser light emitted from the laser medium within the resonator for causing pulsed oscillation of the laser light;
• a focus-position adjustment section capable of adjusting the focus position of the laser light emitted from the Q switch in the direction of the optical axis;
• a laser-light two-dimensional scanning system for scanning, in a two-dimensional manner, the laser light emitted from the focus-position adjustment section;
• a processing-condition setting portion for setting at least one of the power of the laser light emitted from the Q switch, the frequency of the Q switch and the ON/OFF duty ratio of the Q switch;
• an amount-of-correction identification section for identifying, as an amount of focus-position correction, the deviation of the focus position in the direction of the optical axis which is caused by induced thermal lens effects, based on the settings made by the processing-condition setting portion;
• and
• a laser driving control portion for controlling the focus-position adjustment section in such a way as to adjust the focus position, based on the amount of focus-position correction identified by the amount-of-correction identification section.

A laser processing method for directing laser light to a to-be-processed surface for performing processing in a desired processing pattern, the laser processing method comprising the steps of

• setting a processing pattern and a laser-light outputting condition including at least one of the power of the laser light emitted from the Q switch, the frequency of the Q switch and the ON/OFF duty ratio of the Q switch, as processing conditions for processing in a desired processing pattern;
• identifying, as an amount of focus-position correction, the deviation of the focus position in the direction of the optical axis which is caused by induced thermal lens effects, based on the laser-light outputting condition which has been set;
• and
• performing processing through irradiation of the laser light based on the laser-light outputting condition and the processing pattern which have been set, while adjusting the focus position of the laser light emitted from the Q switch in the direction of the optical axis, based on the identified amount of focus-position correction.