Transformation of Gaussian beams into M-beams for advanced microvia drilling Available to Purchase

Typical laser systems produce Gaussian laser beams that may not be suitable for high precision materials processing. This study considers laser microvia drilling of multilayer polymeric substrates for high density interconnects of microelectronics devices. Closely spaced microvias reduce the interconnect distance between the processors to meet the ever increasing demand for transferring large volumes of data at high rates. CO₂ lasers of 9.3 μm wavelength is commonly used for drilling microvias in current polymeric substrates because of their higher absorption coefficient at this wavelength than at 10.6 μm wavelength of conventional CO₂ lasers. High absorption coefficient provides a volumetric heating mechanism of shallow depth to enable surface-controlled vaporization of the polymeric materials. Gaussian or top-hat laser beams generally leave carbonized polymeric residue at the bottom corner and on the side wall of the microvias, and this residue hinders the subsequent microsoldering of electronic devices to the interconnects. The formation of the residue can be reduced using M-beams for microvia drilling. A thermal model is developed to determine the intensity distribution of the M-beam. To achieve this M-beam from a Gaussian beam, a lens system is designed using the Fresnel diffraction model. Drilling experiments have been conducted using an M-beam and the shape and size of the microvia are found to match the theoretical predictions very well.