Methods and systems for generating pulse trains for material processing
AssigneeElectro Scientific Industries, Inc.
InventorsYasu Osako, Hisashi Matsumoto
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Systems and methods generate laser pulse trains for material processing. In one embodiment, stable laser pulse trains at high repetition rates are generated from a continuous wave (CW) or quasi-CW laser beams. One or more laser pulses in the laser pulse train may be shaped to control energy delivered to a target material. In another embodiment, multiple laser beams are distributed to multiple processing heads from a single laser pulse, CW laser beam, or quasi-CW laser beam. In one such embodiment, a single optical deflector distributes multiple laser beams among respective processing heads.
Claims38
A laser processing system for generating stable laser pulse trains at high repetition rates, the system comprising:
- a processing head configured to illuminate a target location of a material with a laser pulse train;
- a laser source configured to output a continuous wave (CW) or quasi-CW laser beam;
- and
- an optical shutter configured to:
- receive the CW or quasi-CW laser beam from the laser source;
- receive a control signal;
- generate the laser pulse train from the CW or quasi-CW laser beam based on the control signal;
- and
- direct the laser pulse train to the processing head.
A laser processing method comprising:
- generating a continuous wave (CW) or quasi-CW laser beam;
- temporally slicing portions of the CW or quasi-CW laser beam to generate a laser pulse train;
- and
- directing the laser pulse train to a target location of a material.
A system comprising:
- means for generating a CW or quasi-CW laser beam;
- means for generating a laser pulse train from the CW or quasi-CW laser beam;
- and
- means for directing the laser pulse train to a target location of a material.
A laser processing system for processing a material using multiple laser beams, the system comprising:
- a first processing head configured to illuminate a first location of a target material with a first laser pulse train;
- a second processing head configured to illuminate a second location of the target material with a second laser pulse train;
- a laser source configured to generate a laser beam;
- and
- an optical shutter configured to:
- receive the laser beam from the laser source;
- remove temporal portions of the received laser beam to generate the first laser pulse train, the second laser pulse train, and a first remaining portion of the laser beam;
- output the first laser pulse train toward the first processing head;
- output the second laser pulse train toward the second processing head;
- and
- output the first remaining portion of the laser beam.
A laser processing method comprising:
- providing a laser beam to a first acousto-optic modulator (AOM), the first AOM configured to generate a first laser pulse train, a second laser pulse train, and a first remaining portion of the laser beam;
- driving the first AOM at a first frequency configured to deflect the first laser pulse train along a first optical path so as to illuminate a first location of a target material;
- driving the first AOM at a second frequency configured to deflect the second laser pulse train along a second optical path so as to illuminate a second location of the target material;
- and
- outputting the first remaining portion of the laser beam.
A laser processing system comprising:
- means for generating a laser beam;
- means for generating a first laser pulse train, a second laser pulse train, and a remaining portion of the laser beam;
- and
- means for deflecting the first laser pulse train at a first deflection angle so as to illuminate a first location on a target material with the first laser pulse train, for deflecting the second laser pulse train at a second deflection angle so as to illuminate a second location on the target material with the second laser pulse train.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.