Evaluation and design of a solid-state 193 nm OPO-Nd:YAG laser ablation system

Today, most ablation systems operate at wavelengths in the UV region between 266 and 193 nm (experimental systems at 157 nm) to perform in-situ micro-analyses of solids in chemistry and earth sciences. The initially used solid-state laser technology of Nd:YAG laser ablation systems has been replaced in part by gas lasers such as excimer lasers operating in the deep UV region at 193 nm, which dominate the photolithography field in the semiconductor industry. Within this study an ablation system based on all-solid-state laser technology, operating at 193 nm, is described here along with its performance on high and low transparent materials. In order to describe the system to state-of-the-art instrumentation, results are compared with excimer data. However, the scope of the work is to describe alternative strategies to generate 193 nm.