Methods and apparatus for making functional slots

摘要

A liquid-jet-guided laser system can be used to generate functional slots having different depth and sidewall profiles by applying active control of laser beam parameters. Blinds slots can be processed onto a workpiece, such as a tire mold or a turbine vane, for an insertion of a sipe or a sealing element, respectively. Through slots can also be processed onto a workpiece, such as a turbine element for cooling during operation or a semiconductor wafer for singulation purpose. The processing of the workpiece can include a two-step procedure, wherein the first step comprises a pre-cut. The pre-cut cuts a contour outline of a slot onto a workpiece corresponding to an element that is to be inserted into the slot. The second step comprises a removal cut to remove excess workpiece material in between the contour outline. The liquid-jet-guided laser system can employ multiple-wavelength processing of a multiple-material workpiece.

主权项

1. A method of a liquid-jet-guided laser system, comprising:
determining a contour of a slot to be processed into a workpiece; processing the slot into the workpiece based on the determined contour, wherein the slot is at least one of a blind slot and a through slot.