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US 7,726,532 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for forming cracks
AssigneeMitsuboshi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorTogo Gonoe
Life of this patent
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AssigneeMitsuboshi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorTogo Gonoe
Estimating the term…
A method for forming a crack which can precisely form a crack in a desired direction in substrates made of brittle materials even if the substrate of a large size is placed apart from a correct reference position on the scribe table. According to this method, a crack formation presumed line M is formed following the position separated from a beam travel line L, which is the track of the movement of the center of the beam spot B, by an offset amount O by moving a beam spot B relatively to a substrate G so that the beam travel line L can be in an oblique direction to a reference axis direction X set so as to be coincident with the substantial major axis direction of the beam spot B, and further a cooling spot C is relatively moved following the crack formation presumed line M, and thereby a vertical crack is formed following the crack formation presumed line M.
A method of forming a crack in substrates made of brittle materials, comprising the steps of irradiating a laser beam which can form a beam spot substantially having the major axis to a substrate, forming a cooling spot by emitting a jet of refrigerant to the substrate, and locally causing thermal stress to the substrate by heating with the irradiation of the laser beam and cooling with the emission of a jet of refrigerant, wherein the beam spot is moved relatively to said substrate in such a way that the direction of a beam travel line, which is the track of the movement of the major axis center of the beam spot, can be in an oblique direction to the reference axis direction set to be coincident with the major axis direction of the beam spot, the cooling spot is relatively moved following a crack formation presumed line in a position separated from the beam travel line by an offset amount.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.