The Symbiosis of Light and Matter: Laser-Engineered Materials for Photo-Functionality

Abstract

Current technology trends imply that further miniaturization and integration of systems are anticipated, and one approach to realizing the next generation of systems integration is the development of materials that are protean, or capable of taking on various properties; in essence, the materials properties can be selectively altered via laser excitation. The objective is that a common substrate material can be used for multiple functions. Laser direct-write material processing, because of its maskless patterning flexibility, is inherently suitable for producing localized changes in materials properties and thereby fabricating linked, integrated devices on a common substrate. The enabling of this new form of materials processing requires a light-activated protean material along with a scheme for the dynamic regulation of the laser energy for optimum laser processing on the scale of the laser spot size and for patterning speeds on the order of meters per second. The “protean material” concept and a high-fidelity laser amplitude-modulation scheme are the focus of this article.

Laser fabricated microchannels inside photostructurable glass-ceramic

“…As expected, after thermal treatment (Fig. 1b), a yellowish colouration developed around the irradiated zones even in samples where no damage was previously found (Table 1) [18,20,21]. The volume of coloured material diminishes as the energy and the number of pulses decrease.…”

Laser Processing Architecture for Improved Material Processing

“…Our prior experimental studies concerning the laser processing of a commercial photosensitive glass ceramic have shown that careful articulation of key laser parameters can be used to establish reaction pathways for the formation of distinct equilibrium phase states [31,32]. Device manufacturers and systems developers would prefer to utilize materials that are near equilibrium (i.e., G 0); in reality, however, many commercial materials are used in their metastable, non-equilibrium state (e.g., glass).…”

“…In this chapter, we focus on the development and application of a laser processing architecture that permits precision modulation of photon flux and the positionsynchronized delivery of discrete laser pulse scripts to a substrate during patterning [23,[30][31][32][42][43][44]. The laser processing platform is highly versatile and is able to seamlessly and dynamically merge a diverse array of other process scripts including material type (e.g., metal, semiconductor, and polymer), surface topography (e.g., rough, smooth, textured), prior photon dose history and the desired type of material processing (e.g., ablation, deposition, phase transformation), along with automated calibration routines and diagnostic tests.…”

“…To address the inherent limitations and expand the capability of conventional laser material processing techniques, we have developed a novel direct-write approach that facilitates the controlled and precise delivery of photons to the substrate during patterning [23,[30][31][32][42][43][44]. Our experimental technique is aptly named laser genotype pulse modulation processing because its inspiration is derived from the concept of the genome and the function of the genotype.…”

Low temperature growth and laser-induced phase transformation of perovskite oxide films for uncooled IR detector applications

“…Following film deposition, the direct-write laser pulse modulation process [6] induces siteselective and local phase transformation from the non-pyroelectric cubic phase to the pyroelectric tetragonal phase. Traditional thermal processing techniques lead to global phase transformations, where the entire deposited film undergoes structural conversion.…”