Systems and methods for drilling vias in permeable materials

Abstract

To provide a method for forming a penetration via in a substrate having a first face and a second face that are positioned on mutually opposite sides.SOLUTION: This method may include a step in which focused laser pulse beam is radiated to a substrate so as to pass through a first face of the substrate, and thereafter, to pass through a second face of the substrate. The focused laser pulse beam has such a wavelength that the substrate has at least substantially permeability, and a beam waist of the focused laser pulse beam is closer to the second face than the first face. The focused laser pulse beam generates a molten zone in the substrate by melting a region of the substrate near the second face, and the molten zone is propagated toward the first face. The method is characterized by a pulse repetition rate, a peak light intensity in the substrate, and an average power in the substrate that are sufficient to gasify or evaporate a material of the substrate positioned in the molten zone.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Related Applications

[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 742,694, filed October 8, 2018, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] I.Technical field FIELD OF THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to processing substrates, and more particularly to laser drilling vias, such as through vias, in substrates.

[0003] II. Description of Related Art Thin glass with precisely formed holes is gaining attention for electronics applications. These holes are filled with conductive materials and used to transmit electrical signals from one component to another, providing precise connections for central processing units, memory chips, graphics processors, or other electronic components. For such applications, substrates with metallized holes within them are typically called "interposers." Compared to currently used interposer materials, such as fiber-reinforced polymers or silicon, glass offers many advantageous properties. Glass can be formed thin and smooth into large sheets without polishing, and it is stiffer and more dimensionally stable than organic alternatives. Glass is a much better electrical insulator than silicon and has better dimensional stability (thermal and rigidity) than organic options. Glass can be matched to different thermal expansion coefficients to control stack warpage in integrated circuits.

[0004] Various hole-forming methods can be used to form holes in glass, such as hot pressing, optically machinable glass lithography, discharge drilling, powder blasting, and various laser drilling processes. The challenge with any of these techniques is typically creating holes of sufficient quality (low crack rate, adequate size and roundness) at a sufficiently high via formation rate (holes per second), which ultimately impacts cost. For example, glass hot pressing can have difficulty creating holes with sufficiently small dimensions (approximately 100 microns or less). Discharge drilling can have difficulty addressing tight hole pitches (i.e., holes less than approximately 50 microns apart). Laser drilling of holes using beam trepanning can be slow (e.g., approximately 1 hole per second). Excimer laser processing and optically machinable glass can have large initial investment costs.

[0005] Previously, laser drilling processes have been developed to produce particularly high-quality holes. For example, UV nanosecond lasers can be used in a percussion drilling process to create pilot holes (each approximately 10 microns in diameter) in a glass component using multiple (e.g., hundreds) laser pulses per hole. The component is then etched with acid to enlarge the pilot holes and achieve the desired dimensions. The etched holes are then metallized, a redistribution layer is added for fanout of electrical signals, and the component is diced into smaller pieces to produce functional interposers. However, laser drilling using UV nanosecond lasers is a time-consuming process; percussion drilling (i.e., successive pulses at the same location) can require hundreds of pulses to drill a single hole to the desired depth. Because the capital costs of building a precision laser drilling platform can be substantial (approaching $1 million per unit), the speed of hole formation is a key parameter in the overall production cost of interposers. Furthermore, etching the glass components makes it difficult to ensure that different glass components have substantially the same thickness after etching.

[0006] Other conventional laser drilling processes include single-shot laser processes that use a single laser pulse with a Bessel beam profile to modify a glass part regardless of where the vias are needed, and then etch the part with acid to form the vias. While this process can be used to produce up to 5,000 vias per second (200 μs per via), it still requires etching, which, as noted above, can make it difficult to achieve a uniform thickness of the glass part in the finished product. Furthermore, laser pulses with a Bessel beam profile are difficult to deflect at high speeds using conventional beam steering methods (e.g., galvanometer mirrors). Therefore, the time required to form a pattern of relatively sparse vias is typically much slower than 5,000 vias per second.

[0007] Karimelahi, Samira, Ladan Abolghasemi, and Peter R. Herman, "Rapid micromachining of high aspect ratio holes in fused silica glass by high repetition rate picosecond laser," Applied Physics A 114.1 (2014), pp. 91-111, reveal that while high aspect ratio vias can be produced in glass using IR and green ultrafast lasers and Gaussian focal spots, the vias are of poor quality or require a subsequent etching step. Thus, there is a need for a method of laser drilling materials such as glass that minimizes or eliminates the above-mentioned problems. Abstract

[0008] One embodiment can be characterized as an article of manufacture that includes a substrate having a plurality of laser-drilled holes extending continuously from a first surface of the substrate to a second surface of the substrate opposite the first surface, the plurality of laser-drilled holes having a diameter of 10 μm or greater and a spacing between adjacent etched holes of 30 μm or greater, the plurality of laser-drilled holes including an opening in the first surface, an opening in the second surface, and a waist located between the opening in the first surface and the opening in the second surface, the diameter of the waist being 75% or greater of the diameter of the opening in the first surface or the opening in the second surface, and the difference between the diameter of the opening in the first surface and the diameter of the opening in the second surface being 3.5 μm or less.

[0009] Another embodiment can be characterized as a method for forming a through via in a substrate, comprising: providing a substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; irradiating the substrate with a focused laser pulse beam at a position passing through the first surface of the substrate and subsequently passing through the second surface of the substrate for a drilling period of less than 100 μs; the focused laser pulse beam having a wavelength at which the substrate is at least substantially transparent; an optical intensity of the focused laser pulse beam at the substrate being less than an optical breakdown intensity of the substrate; the focused laser pulse beam having a Gaussian energy distribution; the focused laser pulse beam having a pulse repetition rate greater than 5 MHz; and laser pulses in the focused laser pulse beam having a pulse width greater than 200 fs.

[0010] Another embodiment can be characterized as a method for forming a through via in a substrate, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a thickness in a range of 30 μm to 150 μm and having a first side and a second side opposite the first side; irradiating the substrate with a focused laser pulse beam so that the focused laser pulse beam passes through the first side of the substrate and then passes through the second side of the substrate; the focused laser pulse beam having a wavelength at which the substrate is at least substantially transparent; an optical intensity of the focused laser pulse beam at the substrate that is less than an optical breakdown strength of the substrate; the focused laser pulse beam having a Gaussian energy distribution; the focused laser pulse beam having a pulse repetition rate, a peak optical intensity at the substrate, and an average power at the substrate that produces a cumulative heating effect; laser pulses in the focused laser pulse beam having a pulse width; and the peak optical intensity, the pulse repetition rate, the average power, and the pulse width selected such that the through via is formed in less than 40 μs.

[0011] Yet another embodiment may be characterized as a method for forming a through via in a substrate, the method comprising: providing a substrate having a first side and a second side opposite the first side; irradiating the substrate with a focused laser pulse beam so that the focused laser pulse beam passes through the first side of the substrate and then passes through the second side of the substrate; the focused laser pulse beam having a wavelength at which the substrate is at least substantially transparent; a beam waist of the focused laser pulse beam being closer to the second side of the substrate than to the first side of the substrate; the focused laser pulse beam melting a region of the substrate near the second side of the substrate to create a melt zone in the substrate; propagating the melt zone toward the first side; and the method being characterized by a pulse repetition rate, a peak light intensity at the substrate, and an average power at the substrate sufficient to vaporize or evaporate material of the substrate located within the melt zone. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary laser processing system for performing a laser drilling process. [Figure 2-3] 2 and 3 are photographs showing through vias drilled in an exemplary glass substrate using a laser drilling process according to one embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a graph illustrating experimental results of a laser drilling process on a glass substrate in one embodiment. [Figure 5-8] 5-8 are photographs of cut glass substrates that have been processed according to embodiments described herein to form through vias. Detailed Description

[0013] Examples of embodiments are described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. Unless expressly stated otherwise, in the drawings, the sizes, locations, etc. of components, features, elements, etc., as well as distances therebetween, are not necessarily to scale and have been exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the drawings. Thus, the same or similar numbers may be described with reference to other drawings even if not mentioned or described in the corresponding drawing. Also, elements without reference numbers may be described with reference to other drawings.

[0014] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. As used herein, the singular is intended to include the plural unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. Furthermore, it should be understood that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof. Unless otherwise indicated, when a range of values ​​is recited, the range includes the upper and lower limits, as well as any subranges between the upper and lower limits of the range. Unless otherwise indicated, terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish elements from one another. For example, one node can be referred to as a "first node," and similarly, another node can be referred to as a "second node," or vice versa.

[0015] Unless otherwise indicated, terms such as "about," "around," "approximately," and the like mean that amounts, sizes, compositions, parameters, and other quantities and characteristics are not, and need not be, exact, but may be approximate and / or larger or smaller, as appropriate, or to reflect tolerances, conversion factors, rounding, measurement error, and other factors known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Spatially relative terms such as "below," "down," "lower," "upper," and "above" may be used herein for ease of description when describing the relationship of an element or feature to another element or feature, as depicted in the figures. It should be understood that spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations in addition to those depicted in the figures. For example, an element described as being "below" or "below" another element or feature would be oriented "above" that other element or feature if the object in the figure were inverted. Thus, the exemplary term "below" can encompass both an orientation of above and below. If the object is oriented in other ways (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations), the spatially relative descriptors used herein may be interpreted accordingly.

[0016] It will be understood that many different forms, embodiments, and combinations are possible without departing from the spirit and teachings of this disclosure, and that this disclosure should not be construed as limited to the example embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these examples and embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be complete and all-inclusive, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

[0017] In embodiments described herein, a laser drilling process for drilling through vias in a substrate involves irradiating the substrate with a beam of laser pulses such that the beam of laser pulses is transmitted through a first side of the substrate and propagates through the substrate toward a second side of the substrate opposite the first side. Typically, the laser pulse beam is focused to have a beam waist located on or near the second side (inside or outside the substrate).

[0018] In some embodiments, the substrate is provided as an article of glass (e.g., borosilicate glass, aluminoborosilicate glass, aluminosilicate glass, alkali lead silicate glass, alkali alkaline earth silicate glass, germanium oxide glass, quartz glass, etc.), synthetic quartz, glass-ceramic (e.g., lithium-aluminum-silicate), ceramic, sapphire, semiconductor material (e.g., Si, SiGe, GaAs, GaN, SiC, etc.), etc., or any combination thereof. Thus, the article of manufacture may be provided as a glass interposer, silicon interposer, semiconductor wafer, semiconductor die, substrate (e.g., for display screens, wafer-mounted or other semiconductor packaging, display panel packaging, MEMS or sensor devices, etc.), etc., or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the substrate is provided as an article of manufacture (e.g., having a thickness in the range of 30 μm (or thereabouts) to 150 μm (or thereabouts)). However, it should be understood that the thickness of the substrate may be less than 30 μm or greater than 150 μm, depending on the particular product embodied by the substrate.

[0019] Typically, the laser pulse beam irradiated onto the substrate has a wavelength at which the substrate is substantially transparent. As used herein, a substrate is considered to be "substantially transparent" to the wavelength of the laser pulse beam if the absorption of the laser pulse beam by the substrate at that wavelength is less than about 20% (e.g., less than about 15%, less than about 10%, less than about 5%, or less than about 1%) per mm of material depth. Thus, depending on the material forming the substrate, the laser pulse beam may have a wavelength in the ultraviolet, visible, or infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. For example, in some embodiments, if the substrate is a glass, quartz, or sapphire product, the laser pulse beam may have a wavelength in the range of 300 nm (or thereabouts) to 1064 nm (or thereabouts).

[0020] As described in more detail below, the laser drilling process can be characterized by parameters including pulse wavelength, pulse width, pulse energy, pulse repetition rate, peak optical intensity at the substrate, drilling duration (i.e., the time a laser pulse is applied to a specific location on the substrate to form a through via), and average power of the laser pulse beam at the substrate. Typically, the laser pulse beam ultimately applied to the substrate during the laser drilling process has a Gaussian energy profile. Using a laser pulse beam with a Gaussian energy profile allows for rapid deflection of the laser pulse beam using conventional beam steering techniques (e.g., galvanometer mirrors, fast steering mirrors, rotating polygon mirrors, acousto-optic deflectors, electro-optic deflectors, etc.) to form through vias in the substrate. Depending on the required via diameter, a percussion drilling process can be used (e.g., when forming vias having diameters in the range of 1 μm to 100 μm, e.g., 10 μm, 20 μm, 30 μm, 50 μm, etc.), or the beam can be deflected (e.g., as described above) to form vias of similar or larger diameters. Because the beam can be deflected rapidly, even relatively sparse through-via patterns can be formed with higher throughput than with conventional laser drilling processes. Finally, the laser drilling processes described herein do not require an acid etching process to obtain through-vias with acceptable diameters or surface morphologies.

[0021] The laser drilling process can also be characterized by a parameter referred to herein as the "z-range." The z-range is the range of distances between the second surface of the substrate and the beam waist of the laser pulse beam that forms a through via in the substrate during the laser drilling process. The inventors have discovered that the z-range depends, at least in part, on the other parameters of the laser drilling process described above. For example, the inventors have discovered that for a given pulse wavelength, pulse width, and pulse repetition rate, and above threshold drilling duration and average power at the substrate, the z-range varies as a function of the drilling duration and average power at the substrate during the laser drilling process. Identifying values ​​of the laser drilling process parameters (e.g., drilling duration and average power at the substrate for a given pulse wavelength, pulse width, and pulse repetition rate) that result in a sufficiently large z-range can be challenging. This is because substrates typically do not have perfectly uniform thickness (i.e., thickness variations on the order of about 10 μm or more may occur) and / or may not be perfectly flat when the laser drilling process is performed (i.e., some waviness on the substrate may occur on the order of about 10 μm or more), and the thickness of one substrate may differ from the thickness of another. If the z-range does not accommodate variations in substrate thickness and flatness, the laser drilling process will not reliably form through-vias.

[0022] After drilling, the through vias can be coated and / or filled with a conductive material. For example, through vias can be formed in a substrate, such as a glass interposer, and coated and / or filled with a conductive material (e.g., copper, aluminum, gold, silver, lead, tin, indium tin oxide, etc., or any combination or alloy thereof). The process used to metallize the interior of the through vias can be, for example, electroplating, electroless plating, physical vapor deposition, or other vapor deposition coating methods. The through vias can also be coated with catalytic materials, such as platinum, palladium, titanium dioxide, or other materials that promote chemical reactions inside the holes. Alternatively, the through vias can be coated with chemical functionalization to alter the surface wetting properties or enable attachment of biomolecules and used for biochemical analysis. Such chemical functionalization can be silanization of the glass surface of the through via and / or additional attachment of specific proteins, antibodies, or other biologically specific molecules designed to promote attachment of biomolecules for the desired application.

[0023] Generally, the laser pulse beam can be characterized by parameters such as pulse repetition rate, pulse energy, and pulse width. The pulse energy and pulse width are selected so that, when the laser pulse beam is focused, the beam waist is located at an offset distance from the second surface of the substrate, and each laser pulse in the focused laser pulse beam strikes an area of ​​the substrate (i.e., corresponding to the spot size of the laser pulse at that area of ​​the substrate) with a peak optical intensity lower than the optical breakdown intensity of the substrate. Furthermore, the pulse repetition rate of the laser pulse beam is selected to be sufficiently high (e.g., considering the peak optical intensity of each laser pulse striking an area of ​​the substrate) so that the irradiated area of ​​the substrate can accumulate heat during an initial period (e.g., also referred to herein as the "incubation period"). Heating of the substrate during the incubation period begins primarily through multiphoton absorption by the substrate material. Absorption of the laser pulses during the incubation period can also occur at point defects in the substrate, which can create defect states for optical absorption between the conduction band and the valence band.

[0024] At the end of the incubation period, the irradiated region of the substrate (which may be, for example, on or near the second side of the substrate, on or near the first side of the substrate, or a combination thereof) accumulates a sufficient amount of heat to locally increase the temperature of the substrate, reduce its bandgap energy, and transition to a state that allows the irradiated region of the substrate to melt and ultimately evaporate. It is believed that the bandgap of the substrate material narrows as a result of thermal ionization, i.e., the gradual overlay of bandgaps at high temperatures due to electronic vibrational states of molecules. It is also believed that impact ionization and cascade ionization also occur within the high-temperature region of the substrate, causing an increase in carrier density that may also contribute to enhanced laser absorption. The region of the substrate that becomes melted during the laser drilling process can be characterized as a "melt zone." A significant increase in the absorption of the laser pulse at the edge, boundary, or interface of the high-temperature region within the substrate immediately results in a progressive growth of the melt zone toward the first side (i.e., in the direction opposite to the direction of propagation of the laser pulse beam from the scan lens 110). Additionally, it has been found that at extremely high temperatures within the substrate (i.e., temperatures above 3000°C), thermally ionized free electrons can cause impact ionization and cascade ionization, significantly increasing the absorption of the laser pulse, even without the contribution of multiphoton absorption. As the temperature in the melting zone increases beyond the vaporization / boiling point of the substrate material, a large vapor pressure is created that can eventually force the molten substrate material out of the via (at least primarily through the second surface) to form a through-via. Therefore, for an additional period immediately following the incubation period (e.g., also referred to herein as the "removal period"), the focused laser pulse beam may remain on the irradiated region of the substrate to heat, melt, and vaporize the irradiated region of the substrate (throughout the entire thickness of the substrate) to form a through-via. The entire period from the start of the incubation period to the end of the removal period is referred to herein as the "drilling period."

[0025] In view of the above, it should be apparent that the laser drilling process described herein is highly dependent on the heat accumulation dynamics of the substrate (when irradiated by the focused laser pulse beam). Accordingly, the laser pulse beam may be generated and focused by any method known in the art to generate a focused laser pulse beam. Each laser pulse in the focused laser pulse beam has a peak power and peak optical intensity at the substrate sufficient to heat (but not ablate, crack, or otherwise damage) the substrate. The laser pulse beam is further generated by any method known in the art to generate laser pulses with sufficient peak power to prevent the substrate from substantially cooling between laser pulses (e.g., to allow the substrate to accumulate heat during the incubation period and continue to accumulate heat during the ablation period, as described above), at a pulse repetition rate sufficient to prevent cooling. However, the peak power, peak optical intensity, and pulse repetition rate of the focused laser pulse beam should also be selected to prevent the substrate from accumulating heat prematurely. If heat builds up too quickly, undesirable phenomena such as cracks appearing in areas of the substrate not irradiated by the laser pulse beam or molten material erupting outside the substrate can occur.

[0026] In one embodiment, the laser pulse beam generated, focused, and directed at the substrate to perform the laser drilling process described herein has a wavelength of 1.27·10 11 W / cm 2The laser pulse beam can be characterized as having a pulse repetition rate of 30 MHz and a peak power at the substrate of about 78 kW (e.g., determined by pulse energy and pulse width, as known in the art) so as to irradiate the substrate with a peak light intensity (e.g., determined by peak power and spot size at the substrate, as known in the art) of (or thereabouts). It should be understood that the laser pulse beam may have a pulse repetition rate higher than or lower than 30 MHz, and the peak power of the laser pulse beam at the substrate can be maintained or adjusted if necessary to compensate for changes in pulse repetition rate (e.g., by adjusting the pulse width or pulse energy of the laser pulses in the laser pulse beam). Similarly, the peak light intensity at the substrate can be maintained or adjusted if necessary to compensate for changes in pulse repetition rate (e.g., by adjusting the pulse width, pulse energy, or spot size at the second surface of the substrate) if necessary. The pulse repetition rate, peak power, pulse width, or pulse energy of the laser pulses in the laser pulse beam can be constant or varied during the drilling period. Generally, lasers capable of producing laser pulse beams with sufficiently high pulse repetition rates and peak powers to perform the laser drilling process are QCW lasers capable of producing laser pulses with pulse widths ranging from 200 fs (or thereabouts) to 50 ps (or thereabouts). For example, the laser pulses can have pulse widths of 200 fs, 400 fs, 800 fs, 1 ps, 2 ps, 5 ps, 10 ps, ​​20 ps, ​​25 ps, 30 ps, ​​40 ps, ​​45 ps, 50 ps, ​​etc., or any value between these values.

[0027] Thus, to perform the laser drilling processes described herein, the pulse repetition rate of the laser pulse beam may range from 5 MHz (or thereabouts) to 5 GHz (or thereabouts), provided that the peak power of the laser pulse beam and, if necessary, the peak light intensity at the substrate are adjusted as needed to compensate for changes in pulse repetition rate. In one embodiment, the pulse repetition rate may range from 5 MHz (or thereabouts) to 500 MHz (or thereabouts). In other embodiments, the pulse repetition rate may range from 25 MHz (or thereabouts) to 40 MHz (or thereabouts), or from 150 MHz (or thereabouts) to 180 MHz (or thereabouts).

[0028] Depending on one or more factors such as the thickness of the substrate, the pulse repetition rate of the laser pulse beam, the pulse energy of the laser pulses in the laser pulse beam, the pulse width of the laser pulses in the laser pulse beam, the peak power at the substrate, and the light intensity at the substrate, the perforation duration can range from 5 μs (or thereabouts) to 120 μs (or thereabouts). In certain embodiments, it can be advantageous for the perforation duration to be 50 μs (or thereabouts) or less, 30 μs (or thereabouts) or less, 20 μs (or thereabouts) or less, 15 μs (or thereabouts) or less, 10 μs (or thereabouts) or less, etc., or a value between any of these values.

[0029] When the beam waist of the focused laser pulse beam is outside the substrate near the second surface, absorption of laser energy occurs at the interface between the second surface of the substrate and the surrounding environment (i.e., air). This interface helps lower the ablation threshold at which the laser energy in the laser pulse beam begins to couple to the substrate. The relatively high peak intensity helps eliminate the need for an absorbing coating on the second surface of the substrate. From experiments performed by the inventors, it appears that there is an initial incubation period during which the focused laser pulse beam does not damage the substrate.

[0030] In one embodiment, the first side of the substrate is cleaned to remove (or reduce the amount of) contaminants on the first side that would absorb the energy in the laser pulse beam. Experiments conducted by the inventors have shown that when a laser energy beam passes over a portion of the first side that has not been cleaned, through vias formed in the substrate tend to have a relatively large opening on the first side and a relatively small opening on the second side. When a laser energy beam passes over a portion of the first side that has been suitably cleaned, through vias formed in the substrate tend to have openings of approximately the same diameter on the first and second sides (e.g., within a range of 2 μm to 5 μm, respectively).

[0031] Thus, material removal from a substrate during a laser drilling process appears to involve a combination of melting and ablation of the substrate material, and material removal rates are surprisingly high compared to conventional laser drilling processes, despite the relatively low average power of the laser pulse beam. Indeed, the laser drilling process described herein exhibits significant improvements in via formation speed compared to conventional laser drilling processes. Experiments conducted by the inventors on optically transparent glass substrates up to 100 μm thick (i.e., performing the laser drilling process described herein using a percussion drilling method) indicate that through vias having a diameter of approximately 10 μm can be reliably formed in 15 μs (or thereabouts). Experiments conducted by the inventors on optically transparent glass substrates up to 50 μm thick (i.e., performing the laser drilling process described herein using a percussion drilling method) indicate that through vias having a diameter of approximately 10 μm can be reliably formed in only 5 μs (or thereabouts), and can be reliably formed in 15 μs (or thereabouts). In contrast to the laser drilling process of the embodiments described herein, conventional laser drilling processes performed on optically transparent glass substrates using laser pulses at transparent wavelengths and pulse widths of less than 10 picoseconds rely on nonlinear absorption and tend to require several times longer to form a single through via than the time required to form a single through via with the laser drilling process described herein.

[0032] 1 illustrates an exemplary laser processing system for performing the laser drilling process described in the above embodiments. Referring to FIG. 1, laser processing system 100 includes laser 102, beam expander 104, beam modulator 106, beam scanner 108, scan lens 110, and stage 112.

[0033] Laser 102 can be any suitable laser capable of generating a laser pulse beam having the above characteristics (e.g., a QCW laser capable of generating a laser pulse beam having the above characteristics). For example, laser 102 can be configured to generate a laser pulse beam with an average power of 100 W or thereabouts, a wavelength of 515 nm or thereabouts, e.g., 532 nm, a pulse width ranging from 20 ps or thereabouts to 40 ps or thereabouts, and a pulse repetition rate ranging from 25 MHz or thereabouts to 40 MHz or thereabouts. In one embodiment, the laser pulses have a pulse width of 28 ps or thereabouts and a pulse repetition rate of 30 MHz or thereabouts.

[0034] The beam expander 104 may be any suitable device capable of expanding the incident beam from a first beam size (e.g., a diameter of 2 mm or thereabouts) to a second beam size (e.g., a diameter of 4.5 mm or thereabouts). In one embodiment, the beam expander may be a motorized variable beam expander.

[0035] Beam modulator 106 may be any suitable device capable of selectively attenuating (e.g., partially attenuating, fully attenuating, or not attenuating at all) the laser energy beam. In one embodiment, beam modulator 106 may be an acousto-optic (AO) modulator (AOM) or an AO deflector (AOD).

[0036] Beam scanner 108 may be any suitable device (or devices) capable of deflecting an incident laser pulse beam (e.g., within a one-dimensional scan region, within a two-dimensional scan region, etc.) Thus, beam scanner 108 may include one or more galvanometer mirrors, one or more fast steering mirrors, one or more deformable mirrors, one or more AODs, a rotating polygon mirror, etc., or any combination thereof.

[0037] Scan lens 110 can be any suitable device (or devices) capable of focusing an incident laser pulse beam to produce a focused laser pulse beam. In one embodiment, scan lens 110 is a telecentric scan lens. In other embodiments, scan lens 110 has a focal length of 100 mm (or thereabouts) and a numerical aperture (NA) of about 0.5 or less. In one embodiment, scan lens 110 can focus the laser pulse beam to produce a beam waist (e.g., at the focal plane of scan lens 110) having a diameter in the range of 10 μm (or thereabouts) to 13 μm (or thereabouts), e.g., in the range of 11 μm to 12 μm.

[0038] Stage 112 may be any suitable device (or devices) capable of supporting and moving a substrate (e.g., identified as 114) as described above. In one embodiment, stage 112 is configured to linearly move substrate 114 along one axis, two axes, the like, or any combination thereof. Substrate 114 can generally be characterized as including a first side (e.g., facing scan lens 110) and a second side opposite the first side (e.g., facing away from scan lens 110). Stage 112 is configured to support substrate 114 such that the second side does not contact underlying structures, such as stage 112. As used herein, the first side of substrate 114 is also referred to as the “front side” of substrate 114, and the second side of substrate 114 is also referred to as the “back side” of substrate 114.

[0039] In one embodiment, stage 112 supports substrate 114 such that the focal plane of scan lens 110 is located outside of substrate 114 (i.e., below the second side of substrate 114). The distance between the second side of substrate 114 and the focal plane of scan lens 110 (i.e., the "offset distance" described above) is set so that the focused laser pulse beam irradiates an area of ​​the substrate with a peak intensity that is lower than the optical breakdown intensity of the substrate while still producing through vias in the substrate as described above. It will be appreciated that the offset distance may be determined experimentally or calculated (e.g., based on parameters of the laser drilling process, based on the material of the substrate, or the like, or any combination thereof).

[0040] System 100 may further include one or more other components that polarize, reflect, expand, focus, etc., the laser pulse beam propagating from laser 102 to scan lens 110 (e.g., along the exemplary dotted line in FIG. 1 ). Examples of such components include a half-wave plate 116, a pair of relay lenses 118, and multiple folding mirrors (e.g., folding mirror 120). In one embodiment, the pair of relay lenses are positioned and configured to expand (e.g., double the beam size of) the laser pulse beam as output from beam modulator 106. Thus, if the laser pulse beam as output from beam modulator 106 has the second beam size of 4.5 mm (or thereabouts) described above, the laser pulse beam output from the pair of relay lenses can be characterized as having a third beam size of 9 mm (or thereabouts).

[0041] 2 and 3 are photographs taken from a first side and a second side, respectively, of through vias drilled in a 50 μm thick glass substrate (i.e., a substrate formed from AF 32® manufactured by SCHOTT Corporation) using the above-described laser drilling process using the above-described laser processing system 100. The glass substrate was uncoated, in the sense that no absorbing coating was formed on either side, and the average power of the laser pulse beam at the substrate (i.e., after being reflected, transmitted, or diffracted by the above-described components of laser processing system 100) ranged from 66 W (or thereabouts) to 67 W (or thereabouts). The diameter of the through vias at the first side (shown in FIG. 2) was 9.5 μm to 10.1 μm, and the diameter of the through vias at the second side (shown in FIG. 3) was 9 μm.

[0042] 4 is a graph showing the results of an experiment in which the above-described laser drilling process was performed on a 50 μm thick glass substrate (i.e., an uncoated substrate formed from AF 32® manufactured by SCHOTT Corporation). In this experiment, the average power of the laser pulse beam at the substrate was varied from 25 W (or thereabouts) to 67 W (or thereabouts), and the drilling duration at each location on the substrate where a via was to be formed was varied from 5 μs to 120 μs in 5 μs intervals. The points on the graph represent actual data points obtained from each experiment, and the contour boundaries were derived from the experimentally obtained data using statistical analysis software JPM produced by SAS INSTITUTE.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 4, experiments conducted by the inventors demonstrated that a laser drilling process with an average power of 25 W and a drilling duration of 120 μs did not damage the substrate and did not form through-hole vias. Similarly, the same results were obtained for average power / drilling duration combinations of 25 W / 40 μs, 30 W / 40 μs, 35 W / 40 μs, 40 W / 30 μs, 40 W / 20 μs, 40 W / 10 μs, and 50 W / 10 μs. At an average power of 67 W and a drilling duration of 5 μs, through-hole vias were formed in the substrate when the z-offset was 0.05 mm, but no through-hole vias were formed when the z-offset was greater than 0.05 mm. Thus, the z-range of the laser drilling process is 0.05 mm for average powers of 66 W (or thereabouts) to 67 W (or thereabouts) and a drilling duration of 5 μs. It was found that the z-range of the laser drilling process can be expanded by increasing the average power at the substrate and / or by increasing the drilling duration at each drilling location, as shown in Figure 4. For example, by increasing the drilling duration from 40 μs to 120 μs (at an average power of 30 W), through vias can be formed with a z-offset of 0.075 mm. Similarly, with an average power of 40 W and a drilling duration of 40 μs, through vias were formed in the substrate at a z-offset of 0.075 mm (however, no through vias were formed at z-offsets greater than 0.075 mm). Importantly, it was discovered that through vias formed with a drilling duration of 15 μs can be formed with z-offsets of 0.2 mm or greater when the average power at the workpiece is in the range of 66 W (or thereabouts) to 67 W (or thereabouts). Thus, at an average power of 66 W (or thereabouts) to 67 W (or thereabouts) and a drilling duration of 15 μs, the z-range of the laser drilling process is greater than 0.2 mm. In many cases, the z-range desirably accommodates variations in substrate thickness or flatness, allowing for fast and reliable formation of through vias through the substrate.

[0044] FIGS. 5 through 8 are cross-sectional photographs of 50 μm-thick ( FIGS. 5 and 7 ) or 100 μm-thick ( FIGS. 6 and 8 ) glass substrates (i.e., glass substrates formed from AF 32® manufactured by SCHOTT) that were processed to form through vias (e.g., using laser processing system 100 and the laser drilling process described above). Each via was formed with a drilling duration of 15 μs. No absorbing coating was formed on either side of the glass substrate. The average power of the laser pulse beam at the substrate (i.e., after being reflected, transmitted, or diffracted by the above-described components of laser processing system 100) was 67 W (or thereabouts) to 69 W (or thereabouts). In FIGS. 5 through 8 , the uneven quality of the edges at the cross-sectional plane is due to the vulnerability of the glass material to the mechanical grinding method used to cut the substrate. Therefore, the diameters identified in FIGS. 5 through 8 may have been smaller than the annotated diameters before cutting. The main purpose of Figures 5-8 is to show how straight the sidewalls of the through vias are and how uniform the diameter of the through vias is throughout the entire thickness of the substrate.

[0045] From the above, it can be appreciated that the laser pulse beam can be scanned (e.g., by beam scanner 108) to form multiple through vias. In the laser drilling processes described herein, the minimum via-to-via pitch (i.e., the distance between nearest adjacent vias) is generally limited by the diameter of the "splash zone" around the opening of each through via in the second side of the substrate. Generally, the splash zone is the area around the opening in the second side where molten material ejects from the substrate during the formation of the through via. In some embodiments, the laser drilling process described above produces a splash zone about 30 μm in diameter. As such, the via-to-via pitch can be 30 μm (or thereabouts) or greater.

[0046] The foregoing is a description of embodiments and examples of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. While several specific embodiments and examples have been described with reference to the drawings, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that many modifications to the disclosed embodiments and examples and other embodiments are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of the present invention.

[0047] For example, while through vias have been described having openings of approximately 10 μm diameter on the first and second sides of substrates having thicknesses of either 50 μm or 100 μm, it will be understood that through vias having similar sized openings may be formed in substrates having thicknesses of less than 50 μm, between 50 μm and 100 μm, or even greater than 100 μm. Furthermore, by using a scan lens 110 having an NA greater than 0.5, through vias having openings of smaller radii on the first and second sides can be obtained.

[0048] In another example, while the laser system 100 is described above as including a laser 102 capable of generating a laser pulse beam at a wavelength of 515 nm (or thereabouts), it will be understood that the laser drilling process described in the above embodiment can be achieved using laser pulses at wavelengths other than 515 nm (or thereabouts), depending on one or more other factors, such as the average power at the substrate, pulse width, pulse repetition rate, and the material from which the substrate is formed. For example, if the laser pulse beam has the pulse repetition rate described above and further, the average power of the laser pulse beam at the substrate is 100 W (or thereabouts) or greater (e.g., 110 W, 120 W, 130 W, etc., or a value between any of these values), the laser drilling process described above can be achieved using a laser pulse beam with a wavelength in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum (e.g., 1030 nm, 1064 nm, etc.). At wavelengths in the near-infrared region, the laser pulses in the laser pulse beam can have the pulse widths described above. However, it should be noted that the selection of the pulse width can affect the length of the drilling period. In general, it has been found that for a given average power and pulse repetition rate, a laser pulse beam having a relatively short pulse width (e.g., 10 ps or thereabouts) can form a through via in a shorter drilling period than a laser pulse beam having a relatively long pulse width (e.g., 30 ps or thereabouts).

[0049] In another example, although the laser drilling process is described above as eliminating the need for an absorbing coating on the second side of the substrate, it will be appreciated that the second side of the substrate may be coated or treated with a material that is more absorptive of the laser pulse beam than the substrate or a material that alters the substrate's absorptivity for the laser pulses (e.g., at or near its second side).

[0050] In another example, if desired, a thermal annealing process may be performed on the substrate after the laser drilling process is performed to form the through vias, in which case the thermal annealing treatment may act to relieve internal stresses in the substrate caused by solidification of molten material ejected into the splash zone during the laser drilling process.

[0051] Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention as defined in the claims. For example, those skilled in the art will understand that the subject matter of any sentence, paragraph, example, or embodiment may be combined with some or all of the subject matter of any other sentence, paragraph, example, or embodiment, except where such combinations would be mutually exclusive. The scope of the present invention should therefore be determined by the following claims and any equivalents of such claims to be included therein.

Claims

1. 1. A method for forming a through via in a substrate, comprising: providing a substrate having a thickness in the range of 150 μm or greater and having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface; irradiating the substrate with a focused laser pulse beam through the first surface of the substrate and then through the second surface of the substrate; the focused laser pulse beam has a wavelength through which the substrate is at least partially transparent; the optical intensity of the focused laser pulse beam at the substrate is less than the optical breakdown intensity of the substrate; the focused laser pulse beam has a Gaussian energy distribution; the focused laser pulse beam has a pulse repetition rate, a peak light intensity at the substrate, and an average power at the substrate that produces a cumulative heating effect that melts an area of ​​the substrate irradiated by the focused laser pulse beam; the laser pulses in the focused laser pulse beam have a pulse width; the peak light intensity, the pulse repetition rate, the average power, and the pulse width are selected such that the through via is formed in a time of 120 μs or less; method.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peak light intensity, the pulse repetition rate, the average power, and the pulse width are selected such that the through via is formed in less than 110 μs.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the peak light intensity, the pulse repetition rate, the average power, and the pulse width are selected such that the through via is formed in less than 100 μs.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the peak light intensity, the pulse repetition rate, the average power, and the pulse width are selected such that the through via is formed in less than 90 μs.

5. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the peak light intensity, the pulse repetition rate, the average power, and the pulse width are selected such that the through via is formed in a time period ranging from 40 μs to 80 μs.

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