Versatile Helios Lasers Provide Sub-Nanosecond Pulses For Superior Micromachining Results

The new Helios series of sub-nanosecond solid-state lasers from Coherent, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA) deliver superior results in dicing, scribing and marking applications.  With a pulse repetition frequency of 50 kHz and a pulse width of <600 ps, Helios’ unique combination of high average power and high peak power enables faster throughput in industries such as electronics and photovoltaics (solar). Specific applications include scribing of both thin-film and c-Si solar cells (e.g. selective opening of anti-reflection or passivation layers), dicing of silicon wafers, and precision marking of a wide range of products. Helios is particularly well-suited to black marking of metals and marking of delicate materials which would suffer peripheral thermal damage with fiber lasers.

The Helios series comes to Coherent as a result of its acquisition of Innolight, and becomes part of Coherent’s growing family of short-pulse, diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers. These Q switched lasers are based on a master-oscillator power-amplifier (MOPA) architecture.  This two-stage approach is ideal for servicing diverse micromachining applications, since it provides the best balance of cost and power considerations. Specifically, the oscillator ensures a superior TEM₀₀ circular beam with M²<1.2, and the integrated amplifier stage allows modular power scaling to the optimum power for specific applications. Helios lasers are available at 1064 nm, with 532 nm to be released soon.  Currently there are several output powers available, with total power up to 5 Watts.  At a pulse repetition rate of 50 kHz, this translates into a pulse energy of 100 microjoules.

About Coherent, Inc.
Founded in 1966, Coherent, Inc. is a world leader in providing photonics based solutions to the commercial and scientific research markets, and is part of the Standard & Poor’s SmallCap 600 Index and the Russell 2000.  For more information, visit http://www.Coherent.com.