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Pulsed laser ablation of electrically insulated features in thin NiCr films

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Abstract

Laser ablation is considered a promising alternative to conventional mask fabrication methods for flexible sensors. For the efficient and high-quality patterning of circuit and electrode geometries, numerous process parameters must be optimized to obtain the necessary laser fluence and pulse overlap that allow for precise, clean cuts in thin, heat-sensitive materials. This study investigates the ability to achieve target cut widths and depths during the pulsed UV laser ablation of NiCr films at various laser powers (0.2 to 1 W), laser scan speeds (0.1 to 0.6 m/s), and pulse frequencies (30 to 100 kHz). Significant variation is observed in the depth, width, and quality of ablated microchannels formed at similar laser fluence and pulse overlap, with the typical fluence-based model giving poor predictions (R2 = 0.37 to 0.57). To address this, an improved fluence-based model that incorporates the effect of a moving laser source using a physics-based approach is proposed (R2 = 0.62 to 0.82). This model is then used to select process parameters for the fabrication of electrically insulated features (> 5 µm cut depth) with the smallest channel width possible (13.7 µm). This process parameter selection approach has the ability to shorten development times and facilitate the fabrication of custom flexible sensors.

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Abbreviations

\({P}_{avg}\) :

Laser average power, W

\({P}_{peak}\) :

Laser peak power, W

\(V\) :

Scanning speed, m/s

\(f\) :

Frequency, kHz

\(\tau\) :

Pulse width, ns

\(\psi\) :

Pulse overlap factor, -

Lp :

Distance between adjacent pulses, µm

D 0 :

Laser beam diameter, µm

\(\omega\) :

Laser beam radius, µm

d :

Ablation depth, µm

α :

Absorptivity, µm−1

\(F\) :

Applied laser fluence, J/mm2

\({F}_{th}\) :

Threshold laser fluence, J/mm2

\(W\) :

Ablation width, µm

\(n\) :

Number of passes,

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Funding

This work was supported with funding from the Discovery and Alliance grants of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and Forcen Inc., and was performed at the Centre for Advanced Materials Joining (CAMJ) at the University of Waterloo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Advanced Materials Joining, Department of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Ningyue Mao, Pablo D. Enrique & Peng Peng

  2. Forcen Inc, 1485 Dupont Street, Suite 309, Toronto, ON, M6P 3S2, Canada

    Pablo D. Enrique

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  1. Ningyue Mao
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Contributions

Ningyue Mao: data curation; investigation; formal analysis; writing, original draft; and software. Pablo D. Enrique: project administration; formal analysis; writing, review and editing; and software. Peng Peng: funding acquisition; resources; supervision; writing, review and editing; and project administration.

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Correspondence to Peng Peng.

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Mao, N., Enrique, P.D. & Peng, P. Pulsed laser ablation of electrically insulated features in thin NiCr films. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 128, 5167–5177 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-12271-7

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