Patent ID: 9044829
Filing Date: 2015-06-02
Classification: B23K

Abstract:
1. A method of removing a material from a substrate, comprising: selecting an exposure wavelength associated with absorption in the material; selecting at least one pulse interval between optical pulses that is less than a material recombination time and greater than a thermal relaxation time associated with the material and the substrate; providing optical pulses at a rate of between about 1 MHz and 100 MHz; modulating the optical pulses to produce an output pulse train at a rate of between about 1 MHz and 30 MHz, such that a pulse interval associated with the output pulse train is the selected pulse interval; delivering the output pulse train to a fiber pre-amplifier and a fiber power amplifier selected to provide total optical gain; and applying at least two optical pulses at the selected exposure wavelength and at the selected pulse interval at a pulse energy sufficient to remove at least a portion of the material.