ULTRA-HIGH SPEED SCANNER (UHSS)

Wessling, June 10th, 2016 - Companies in the micro-machining sector increasingly use ultra-short pulse lasers. In order to make full use of the associated high laser frequencies, they require scanners with deflection speeds that have not been available up to now.

RAYLASE responds to this requirement with the highly innovative, ultra-high-speed scanner UHSS. With speeds of 200 m/sec, it scans several times faster than conventional deflection units used with galvanometer scanners. The RAYLASE UHSS is the only system that enables companies to scan their usual work areas ultra-fast and very precisely. For example, they can use an F-theta lens with a focal length of f = 254mm to scan a field measuring 160mm x 160mm.

These capabilities open up new application areas for ultra-short pulse lasers, including perforation, cutting and scribing at unprecedentedly high speeds. The RAYLASE UHSS significantly reduces production time, enabling firms to benefit from huge cost savings. For example, the UHSS only takes 0.3 to 0.6 seconds to open the passivation layer on a solar wafer, compared with 2 to 4 seconds for conventional systems. RAYLASE sees additional potential for the UHSS with USP lasers used in applications requiring a high degree of filling.

RAYLASE has achieved these high deflection speeds for the UHSS by combining a highly precise polygon with two galvanometer scanners that have an extremely low level of drift. The polygon scanner provides extremely high speed along its scan path. One of the galvanometer scanners is used for corrections in the polygon scan path. The other galvanometer scanner scans the second path while correcting field distortions. In a 160 field, the UHSS can be operated at four speeds – 70, 100, 147 and 200 m/sec. It achieves spot sizes of about 30µm with an input aperture of 15mm and a wavelength of 532nm. The UHSS includes a special control unit that digitally controls the scan head and the lasers.