Industrial micromachining applications of excimer lasers

The ability of the excimer laser to dry etch and micromachine materials such as polymers, crystals and ceramics with extremely high precision is well established. The first true industrial implementation of the excimer laser onto production lines has occurred since 1988 in the microelectronics industry for drilling small feedthrough via holes in insulating layers in multichip modules. The excimer laser has proved to be well suited to this industry for which microfabrication is an underpinning technology. Currently the most active areas of research on the industrial uses of excimer lasers are also in microelectronics-for example laser-assisted CVD and ion implantation, chip circuit and mask repair, TFT silicon annealing, photolithography, wafer marking, planarisation, etc. Microfabrication is also at the heart of many products in other areas; for example, the biomedical and sensor industries. While just beginning to be applied to these areas, the excimer laser could soon find widespread use in the fabrication of products such as contact lenses; medical probes for monitoring bodily functions; microsurgical and body implant devices; environmental monitors of trace elements, impurities and microbes in fluids like water