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29 Sep 2006
Japan's AIST builds 10kHz Ti:S femtosecond laser for semiconductor treatments; exceeds previous best performance by 250%.
Japan's Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has purchased AO2/G lasers from Powerlase to enable the development of a sub-micron surface analysis technique known as EUPS, and to power the development of laser-produced plasmas.
AIST has used the lasers to develop a 10 kHz repetition-rate Ti:Sapphire (Ti:S) femtosecond laser that has demonstrated world leading results, as detailed in the journal Optics Letters.
Powerlase says that the sale reflects its expansion into the Asian market. The deal follows a recent distribution agreement with Japan Laser Corp, which is promoting Powerlase's entire AO Starlase range.
The AO2/G (green) is a development of the AO2 200 W laser. It allows a variety of material processing requirements, and offers a variable repetition speed, pulse energy and M² variance.
The lasers enabled AIST to achieve a "record-breaking" Ti:S femtosecond laser performance. "We needed a pump laser that emits at least 80 W with a high beam quality of M² around 20 or better to upgrade a LPP (laser produced plasma) light source in our EUPS system," said Toshihisa Tomie of AIST. "EUPS is ultra-sensitive to impurities and defects on the surface and interface, and I believe it will become a required analytical technique in developing nanomaterials and devices."
"The AO2/G offers a flexible configuration base. We have achieved a 10 kHz repetition-rate Ti:S femtosecond laser, which exceeds the previous world's best performance by over 250%."
Tony King, Powerlase's CEO, said, "We are pleased AIST chose our lasers to meet its research needs. We have worked hard to ensure our lasers have both the highest power in their class, and the qualities for a variety of materials processing requirements. The AO2/G deal demonstrates our close working relationships with key players in Japan."
The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) is led by Dr Yoshikawa. It was established in 2001 by merging several national laboratories, which have been contributing to society through continuous advancement in technologies and supporting Japanese industries since 1876.
With Headquarters located in Tsukuba and Tokyo, AIST has over 50 autonomous research units in various innovative research fields, and the units are located at 9 research bases and several sites across Japan. About 2500 research scientists and well over 3000 visiting scientists, post doctoral fellows and students are working at AIST.
Dr Tomie's group is known worldwide for its research on applications of LPP. Present purchase of AO2/G is for a source of the group's invented technology EUPS (EUV excited photoelectron spectroscopy) for surface analysis. It is also developing technologies to implement its unique scheme LPP as a source for EUV lithography at high volume stage.
• Powerlase further announced details of a sale to the Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography System Development Association (EUVA) in Japan, which has purchased [a number of] Starlase lasers. The lasers will be used to further EUVA's R&D into extreme ultraviolet radiation as a source for semiconductor chip fabrication.
EUV lithography is now the most promising technology for producing semiconductors of 32 nm and below. The EUVA will use the Powerlase lasers to develop new EUV sources for lithography steppers, which are to be used in semiconductor chip fabrication research, by generating 13.5 nm extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation as a source.
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