Available Technology
Precise 3-D patterning improves the manufacturing of telecommunications devices
Technology:
Femtosecond laser oscillator
Markets Addressed
Dr. Shaffer’s team has developed a method for lasers to directly write three dimensional patterns onto bulk materials, such as glass. The laser directs unamplified, intense, ultra-short pulses of light at very, very fast speeds to a single point on a material. As a result, the final pattern it creates is significantly more precise than lasers currently in operation.
With such precision, this new laser capability can be used in these areas:
• Telecommunication systems to significantly improve waveguides that transmit light through the system, thereby improving overall system efficiency.
• Optoelectronic device manufacturing that utilizes micromachining inside of bulk materials.
• Laser surgery to excise single cells without affecting neighboring cells; that is, minimally disruptive nanosurgery.
• Cell migration studies to grow polymers and metals on glass substrates.
• High density data storage to increase the data storage volumes.
This method not only creates more precise patterns, it also creates more consistent patterns, it is easier to use, it is faster, and it is less expensive to operate than standard lasers.
Innovations and Advantages
The precise 3-D patterning is achieved by using an unamplified, femtosecond, laser oscillator that creates a single point source of heat inside a transparent material. When the laser pulse is tightly focused on the material, heat absorption occurs only in the very small area of focus. This localization is capable of producing a pattern as small as 200-nanometers in diameter. As more light pulses are applied to a single point, the volume of material with an elevated temperature increases. Therefore the laser operator can determine the size of each pattern by controlling the number of light pulses, instead of by the focal point of the laser. As a result, the pattern can be drawn more easily, more precisely, and faster than with amplified lasers.
Because the laser is working with unamplified light, the cost of the laser equipment is significantly lower than standard lasers that work with amplified light.
Additional Information
Intellectual Property Status: Issued U.S. patent nos.: 7,568,365
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Inventor(s):
Ashcom, Jonathan
Brodeur, Andre
Gattass, Rafael R.
Mazur, Eric
Schaffer, Chris B.
Categories:
For further information, please contact:
Alan Gordon, Director of Business Development
(617) 384-5000
Reference Harvard Case #1818