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US5107516A Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Apparatus for controlled ablation by laser radiation

Assignee: Ceram Optec GmbH
•
Filing: 1991-02-12
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Granted: 1992-04-21
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Expires: 2011-02-12
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Abstract

Abstract Apparatus for controlled ablation of material from a predetermined working point, comprising a first laser, in particular excimer laser, for generating laser radiation pulses having a wavelength in a wavelength range suitable for the ablation, in particular in the ultraviolet spectral range, further comprising a radiation analyzer such as a spectrometer for analysis of material-specific radiation from the ablation plume forming at the working point, and a second laser, in particular a tunable dye laser, for generating a further laser radiation in a wavelength range which is different from said first wavelength range and which is better suited for the resonant stimulation of the radiation serving for the analysis than the ablation radiation wavelength range.

Inventors

  • 👤 Martin Dressel
  • 👤 Harald Gerhardt
  • 👤 Walter Neu

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-03 00:58
CPC Classifications
B; B23; B23K; B23K26/00; B23K26/02; B23K26/03; B23K26/032; A; A61; A61B; A61B18/00; A61B18/18; A61B18/20; A61B18/22; A61B18/24; A61B18/245; A61B5/00; A61B5/0059; A61B5/0082; A61B5/0084; A61B17/00; A61B2017/00017; A61B2017/00022; A61B2017/00057; A61B2017/00061; A61B2018/00636; A61B5/0071; A61B5/0075; A61B5/0086

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim 191 words
An apparatus for removing, by ablation, material from an object which includes said material, said apparatus comprising: first laser means (14) for generating laser radiation pulses having a wavelength in a first wavelength range suitable for removing said material from said object by ablation to produce ablated material; second laser means (16) for generating laser radiation having a wavelength in a second wavelength range suitable to induce resonance fluorescence in said ablated material producing resonance fluorescence radiation; radiation analyzer means (22) for analyzing the fluorescence radiation stemming from said ablated material; and optical radiation transmitting means (12,12d) for transmitting radiation, said radiation transmitting means including a first optical path to transmit said radiation pulses from said first laser means (14) to a location on said object from which material is to be removed to produce said ablated material in a volume (21) adjacent said location, a second optical path to transmit said radiation from said second laser means (16) to said volume (21) to induce resonance fluorescence, and a third optical path to transmit said resonance fluorescence radiation from said volume (21) of ablated material to said radiation analyzer means (22).
Claim 2
Independent Claim 191 words
An apparatus for removing, by ablation, material from an object which includes said material, said apparatus comprising: first laser means (14) for generating laser radiation pulses having a wavelength in a first wavelength range suitable for removing said material from said object by ablation to produce ablated material; second laser means (16) for generating laser radiation having a wavelength in a second wavelength range suitable to induce resonance fluorescence in said ablated material producing resonance fluorescence radiation; radiation analyzer means (22) for analyzing the fluorescence radiation stemming from said ablated material; and optical radiation transmitting means (12,12d) for transmitting radiation, said radiation transmitting means including a first optical path to transmit said radiation pulses from said first laser means (14) to a location on said object from which material is to be removed to produce said ablated material in a volume (21) adjacent said location, a second optical path to transmit said radiation from said second laser means (16) to said volume (21) to induce resonance fluorescence, and a third optical path to transmit said resonance fluorescence radiation from said volume (21) of ablated material to said radiation analyzer means (22).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 30 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the radiation generated by said second laser means (16) has a longer wavelength than the radiation pulses generated by said first laser means (14).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 21 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first laser means (14) generates radiation pulses having a wavelength in the ultraviolet range.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 17 words
The apparatus of claim 1 in which said second laser means (16) further includes a tunable laser.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 17 words
The apparatus of claim 1 in which said second laser means (16) further includes a dye laser.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 14 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said second laser means (16) generates radiation pulses.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 36 words
The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising means (24, 28) for timing the radiation pulses generated by said second laser means (16) with respect to the laser radiation pulses generated by said first laser means (14).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 37 words
The apparatus of claim 7 in which said timing means further includes an adjustable delay means for delaying generation of the pulses of said second laser means with respect to the pulses of said first laser means.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 36 words
The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said radiation analyzer means (22) provides an output signal representative of the fluorescence radiation received from said volume, and wherein said first laser means is responsive to said output signal.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 18 words
The apparatus of claim 1 in which said optical radiation transmitting means further includes an optical lightguide fibre.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 19 words
The apparatus of claim 1 in which said optical radiation transmitting means further includes an optical lightguide fibre bundle.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 19 words
The apparatus of claim 1 in which said optical radiation transmitting means further includes a mirror joint arm system.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US5005180A Cited
US5018164A Cited

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