Ablation of aluminum nitride films by nanosecond and femtosecond laser pulses

Vitaly Gruzdev; Robert Tzou; Ildar Salakhutdinov; Yuriy Danylyuk; Erik McCullen; Gregory Auner

doi:10.1117/12.809265

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24 February 2009 Ablation of aluminum nitride films by nanosecond and femtosecond laser pulses

Vitaly Gruzdev, Robert Tzou, Ildar Salakhutdinov, Yuriy Danylyuk, Erik McCullen, Gregory Auner

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Proceedings Volume 7201, Laser Applications in Microelectronic and Optoelectronic Manufacturing VII; 72011B (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.809265
Event: SPIE LASE: Lasers and Applications in Science and Engineering, 2009, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

We present results of comparative study of laser-induced ablation of AlN films with variable content of oxygen as a surface-doping element. The films deposited on sapphire substrate were ablated by a single nanosecond pulse at wavelength 248 nm, and by a single femtosecond pulse at wavelength 775 nm in air at normal pressure. Ablation craters were inspected by AFM and Nomarski high-resolution microscope. Irradiation by nanosecond pulses leads to a significant removal of material accompanied by extensive thermal effects, chemical modification of the films around the ablation craters and formation of specific defect structures next to the craters. Remarkable feature of the nanosecond experiments was total absence of thermo-mechanical fracturing near the edges of ablation craters. The femtosecond pulses produced very gentle ablation removing sub-micrometer layers of the films. No remarkable signs of thermal, thermo-mechanical or chemical effects were found on the films after the femtosecond ablation. We discuss mechanisms responsible for the specific ablation effects and morphology of the ablation craters.

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Vitaly Gruzdev, Robert Tzou, Ildar Salakhutdinov, Yuriy Danylyuk, Erik McCullen, and Gregory Auner "Ablation of aluminum nitride films by nanosecond and femtosecond laser pulses", Proc. SPIE 7201, Laser Applications in Microelectronic and Optoelectronic Manufacturing VII, 72011B (24 February 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.809265

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