Method and system for high-speed, precise micromachining an array of devices
AssigneeGSI Group Corporation
InventorsBruce L. Couch, Jonathan S. Ehrmann, Yun Fee Chu, Joseph V. Lento, Shepard D. Johnson
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Abstract
A method and system for high-speed, precise micromachining an array of devices are disclosed wherein improved process throughput and accuracy, such as resistor trimming accuracy, are provided. Beam scanning and deflection are both used to distribute beam spots to elements of an array of elements for selective processing. The deflection can be performed with a solid state deflector.
Claims30
A method of precisely cutting selected substantially identical conductive circuit elements in an array of such elements arranged in multiple rows and columns on a substrate, the cutting selectively removing material from the selected elements, the method comprising:
- initiating laser beam positioning in a sequential or a parallel processing mode, generating at least one pulsed laser output beam;
- and
- irradiating the selected substantially identical conductive circuit elements, the step of irradiating comprising:
- in the sequential processing mode, deflecting and focusing the laser output beam to produce a distribution pattern of multiple focused beams sequentially to each of a plurality of selected elements of the array, and;
- in the parallel processing mode, spatially splitting and focusing the laser output beam to produce a distribution pattern of multiple focused beams simultaneously to each of a plurality of selected elements of the array, and;
- wherein the steps of deflecting and splitting are carried out, at least in part, with at least one solid-state deflector, wherein at least one focused beam impinges each selected element, and wherein at least one deflected pulse or one split pulse selectively and accurately cuts each selected element.
A method of precisely cutting selected substantially identical conductive circuit elements in an array of such elements arranged in at least one of one or more rows and one or more columns on a substrate, the cutting selectively removing material from the selected elements, the method comprising:
- generating at least one pulsed laser output beam;
- and
- irradiating the selected substantially identical conductive circuit elements with the pulsed laser output beam, the step of irradiating comprising:
- positioning and focusing the laser output beam to produce calibrated, aligned and focused beams to each of a plurality of selected elements of the array, wherein the step of positioning comprises:
- scanning the pulsed laser output beam in a scanning pattern over the array of elements;
- and
- superimposing a distribution pattern on the scanning pattern by deflecting the pulsed laser output beam with at least one programmable deflector;
- and,
- wherein the pulsed laser beam impinges each selected array element with controlled energy and wherein the pulsed laser beam selectively and accurately cuts each selected array element.
A method of reducing a number of passes across a substrate in a laser micromachining sequence of precisely cutting selected substantially identical conductive circuit elements in an array of such elements arranged in at least one of one or more rows and one or more columns on the substrate, the cutting selectively removing material from the selected elements, the method comprising:
- forming a programmable distribution of multiple spots in a spot array, and moving the spot array along a row or column to scan at least a portion of the substrate, and
- processing conductive elements of the array by selective irradiation with the programmable distribution;
- wherein forming a programmable distribution pattern comprises sequentially deflecting one or more beams to elements in multiple rows in first and second directions with a programmable acousto-optic deflector to jump across gaps between elements in a programmed sequence, whereby multiple rows are processed in a single pass and wherein a moving speed is increased by superimposing acousto-optic deflection and substrate scanning.
A method of precisely processing selected substantially identical conductive circuit elements in an array of such elements arranged in multiple rows and one or more columns on a substrate, the processing selectively removing material from the selected circuit elements, the method comprising:
- moving the substrate along a row of conductive circuit elements;
- generating at least one pulsed laser output beam;
- and
- substantially irradiating sequentially with the pulsed laser output beam the selected substantially identical conductive circuit elements, the step of irradiating comprising:
- deflecting and focusing the pulsed laser output beam to each of a plurality of selected elements of the array in a sequence to produce a distribution pattern of multiple focused beams to each of a plurality of selected elements of the array, the plurality of selected elements distributed along the multiple rows of the array, the step of deflecting comprising deflecting in 2 axes, thereby providing fast jumps across gaps between elements relative to the moving substrate.
- wherein the steps of deflecting and focusing are carried out, at least in part, with at least one solid-state deflector and an objective lens and wherein at least one focused beam impinges each selected circuit element, and wherein the at least one laser pulse selectively and accurately cuts each selected circuit element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.