Excimer Laser Applications in Micromachining

Since its invention in 1960, laser has been widely used in many fields, such as scientific research, medical treatment, industry and military. Excimer lasers are an important family of gas lasers that were firstly commercialized in the 1970s. The most common excimer lasers use rare-gas monohalides such as KrF, ArF & XeCl and have a wavelength in ultraviolet (UV) range. The applications of excimer laser are very broad with new applications continuously coming out. This paper addresses novel applications of an excimer laser (248 nm & 193 nm wavelength, 20 ns pulse duration) in micromachining.