Development of Laser Processing Technology with Hybrid ArF Laser in Extremely Short Wavelength

Abstract

Laser processing is required in an extremely short wavelength because getting high-power solid-state lasers is difficult below a wavelength of 200 nm. In an extremely short wavelength region, the energy from a single photon can match the bond energy levels of various carbon compounds and the band gaps of solid materials, enabling these compounds and solids to be processed directly by one or two photons. We developed a hybrid ArF laser, which combines a solid-state laser oscillator and an excimer laser amplifier. We achieved high light-harvesting efficiency and high coherence of a hybrid laser, which has an M2 value of 1.6 and an average power of 110 W with three-pass amplifications.