SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FORMING APERTURES IN MICROFEATURE WORKPIECES

1 . A system for forming an aperture in a microfeature workpiece, comprising:

a laser configured to produce a laser beam along a beam path;

an electromagnetic radiation sensor positioned along the beam path to sense the laser beam; and

a controller operably coupled to the laser and the electromagnetic radiation sensor, the controller being configured to—

cause the laser to impinge the laser beam upon the microfeature workpiece to form a first aperture;

cause the sensor to sense when the laser beam passes through the microfeature workpiece; and

cause the laser to impinge the laser beam at a second location different that the first location of the microfeature workpiece and thereby form a second aperture in the microfeature workpiece based on a determined number of pulses of the laser beam to form the first aperture and/or a determined elapsed time to form the first aperture.

2 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a metrology tool configured to measure a first thickness at a first location and a second thickness at a second location of the microfeature workpiece, the first and second locations being different from each other; and

the controller further being configured to—

direct the metrology tool to measure the first thickness at the first location of the microfeature workpiece;

record the number of pulses of the laser beam and/or the elapsed time when the beam is sensed as passing through the microfeature workpiece;

direct the metrology tool to record the second thickness at the second location of the microfeature workpiece;

control the laser beam to form the second aperture based on the recorded number of pulses and/or the elapsed time, the first thickness, and the second thickness.

3 . The system of claim 2 wherein the first aperture is a test aperture, and wherein the controller is configured to (a) determine the number of pulses of the laser beam and/or the elapsed time to form the test aperture, and (b) control the laser beam based on the determined number of pulses and/or the determined elapsed time to form the second aperture in the microfeature workpiece.

4 . The system of claim 1 wherein the microfeature workpiece includes a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and the system further comprises a workpiece carrier configured to carry the microfeature workpiece without contacting a center region of the first surface and a center region of the second surface of the microfeature workpiece.

5 . A system for forming production apertures in a microfeature workpiece, comprising:

a laser configured to produce a laser beam along a beam path;

an electromagnetic radiation sensor positioned along the beam path to sense the laser beam; and

a controller operably coupled to the laser and the electromagnetic radiation sensor, the controller being configured to perform a method comprising—

ablating the microfeature workpiece by directing pulses of the laser beam to form a test aperture in the microfeature workpiece;

sensing when the laser beam impinges on the electromagnetic radiation sensor through the test aperture;

determining a number of pulses of the laser beam and/or an elapsed time to form the test aperture based on when the laser beam impinges the electromagnetic radiation sensor; and

controlling the laser beam to form production apertures at different locations through the microfeature workpiece based on the determined number of pulses and/or the determined elapsed time to form the test aperture.

6 . The system of claim 5 wherein the system further comprises a workpiece carrier and the controller is further configured to control the workpiece carrier to move the workpiece such that the laser beam impinges the microfeature workpiece at desired locations for the production apertures.

7 . The system of claim 6 wherein the microfeature workpiece includes a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface, and the workpiece carrier is configured to carry the microfeature workpiece without contacting a center region of the first surface and a center region of the second surface of the microfeature workpiece.

8 . The system of claim 6 wherein the workpiece carrier is configured to engage a perimeter region of the microfeature workpiece to support the workpiece.

9 . The system of claim 6 , further comprising:

a metrology tool configured to measure a first thickness at a first location corresponding to a desired site for the test aperture and a second thickness at a second location of the microfeature workpiece corresponding to a desired site for one of the production apertures, the first and second locations being different from each other; and

the controller further being configured to—

direct the metrology tool to measure the first thickness at the first location of the microfeature workpiece;

record the number of pulses of the laser beam and/or the elapsed time when the sensor senses that the beam has passed through the microfeature workpiece;

direct the metrology tool to record the second thickness at the second location of the microfeature workpiece;

control the laser beam to form the production aperture based on the recorded number of pulses and/or the elapsed time, the first thickness, and the second thickness.