Ultrashort pulse laser processing applications in the electronics and semiconductor industry

Demand for advanced, high-performance chips and electronics is rapidly increasing, pushed by the broader adoption of artificial intelligence, vehicle electrification, and autonomous driving applications. Ultrashort pulse lasers offer benefits in manufacturing chips and electronics due to the unique interaction of laser pulses with a dielectric material involving multiple nonlinear effects. These benefits are more pronounced when transitioning to glass substrates. Millions of holes should be drilled in interposers made of silicon, glass, or polymers, filled, and connected with tiny metal lines for high-speed interconnection among the CPU, memory, and input/output ports to create a system-on-package. Direct ablation and femtosecond-laser-induced selective chemical etching are applied for the through-glass via (TGV) formation. Ultra-short pulse lasers have been found to be valuable for highly selective activation of dielectric surfaces, followed by metal seeding in an activation bath and subsequent electroless copper plating. Global problems and achievements in our laboratories are discussed.