IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,648,624
Granted Patent B2
US 11,648,624 · App. 16/941,446 · Granted May 16, 2023

Laser processing apparatus and optical adjustment method

Inventors: Jun Yokoyama (Osaka, JP); Yohei Takechi (Osaka, JP)
Assignee: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
B23K26/042B23K26/032B23K26/0608B23K26/0643B23K26/0648B23K26/0665G01B9/02G01B11/002G01B11/22G01B11/272G02B19/0009G02B19/0047G02B27/1006G02B27/141
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,648,624
App. No.
16/941,446
Granted
May 16, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

A laser processing apparatus emits processing light, measurement light, processing guide light, and measurement guide light with which a surface of a workpiece is irradiated. Respective wavelengths of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light are set to wavelengths at which a deviation amount between an irradiation position of the processing guide light and an irradiation position of the measurement guide light due to a chromatic aberration of magnification of a lens, and a deviation amount between an irradiation position of the processing light and an irradiation position of the measurement light due to the chromatic aberration of magnification of the lens are equal to each other. Therefore, positioning of spot positions of a plurality of laser lights having different output differences can be realized with high accuracy and high speed.

Claims (53)

1. A laser processing apparatus comprising:

a laser oscillator that emits a processing light with which a processing point of a surface of a workpiece is irradiated;

a measurement unit that emits a measurement light with which the processing point is irradiated, and detects the measurement light reflected from a bottom surface of a keyhole formed at the processing point, wherein a wavelength of the measurement light is different from a wavelength of the processing light;

a first mirror that combines the processing light and the measurement light;

a second mirror configured to change an angle of measurement light, wherein the second mirror is adjusted such that an irradiation position of the processing light and an irradiation position of the measurement light on the surface of the workpiece match with each other;

a lens that condenses the processing light and the measurement light on the processing point; and

a measurement processor that performs a predetermined measurement based on a signal from the measurement unit,

wherein for adjusting a deviation between an irradiation position of the processing light and an irradiation position of the measurement light on the surface of the workpiece, the laser oscillator emits a processing guide light with which the surface of the workpiece is irradiated and the measurement unit emits a measurement guide light with which the surface of the workpiece is irradiated, the processing guide light having a different wavelength from the processing light and the measurement guide light having a different wavelength from the measurement light,

wherein respective wavelengths of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light are set to wavelengths at which a deviation amount between an irradiation position of the processing guide light and an irradiation position of the measurement guide light due to a chromatic aberration of magnification of the lens, and a deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light due to the chromatic aberration of magnification of the lens are equal to each other,

wherein the irradiation position of the processing guide light and the irradiation position of the measurement guide light match with each other by adjusting the angle of the measurement guide light using the second mirror and thereby the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light match each other, and

wherein the respective wavelengths of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light are set by obtaining the deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light when the processing light and the measurement light are respectively incident on the lens at a desired incident angle, obtaining a correspondence relationship between a candidate wavelength used for each of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light, and an irradiation position when a light having the respective one of the candidate wavelengths is incident on the lens at the desired incident angle, and obtaining a combination of the candidate wavelengths having a deviation within a target accuracy with respect to the deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light.

2. The laser processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first mirror is a dichroic mirror.

3. The laser processing apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the measurement unit is an optical interferometer that generates an optical interference intensity signal based on interference generated by an optical path difference between the measurement light reflected at the processing point and reference light.

4. The laser processing apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the measurement processor calculates a depth of a keyhole generated at the processing point based on the optical interference intensity signal.

5. The laser processing apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:

a two-dimensional light receiving element that detects the irradiation positions of the processing guide light and the irradiation position of the measurement guide light.

6. The laser processing apparatus of claim 1 ,

wherein when a first deviation amount is the deviation amount between an irradiation position of the processing guide light and an irradiation position of the measurement guide light due to the chromatic aberration of magnification of the lens, and when a second deviation amount is the deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light due to the chromatic aberration of magnification of the lens, and

the respective wavelengths of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light are set to wavelengths, by an optical simulation, such that the first deviation and the second deviation amount are in a range of ±0.010 mm to each other and that the wavelengths are in a range of 300 nm to 1100 nm.

7. A laser processing apparatus includes,

a laser oscillator that emits a processing light with which a processing point of a surface of a workpiece is irradiated,

a measurement unit that emits a measurement light with which the processing point is irradiated, and detects the measurement light reflected from a bottom surface of a keyhole formed at the processing point,

a first mirror that combines the processing light and the measurement light,

a second mirror configured to change an angle of measurement light, wherein the second mirror is adjusted such that an irradiation position of the processing light and an irradiation position of the measurement light on the surface of the workpiece match with each other,

a lens that condenses the processing light and the measurement light on the processing point and

a measurement processor that performs a predetermined measurement based on an optical interference intensity signal from the measurement unit,

wherein for adjusting a deviation between an irradiation position of the processing light and an irradiation position of the measurement light on the surface of the workpiece, the laser oscillator emits a processing guide light with which the surface of the workpiece is irradiated and the measurement unit emits a measurement guide light which the surface of the workpiece is irradiated, the processing guide light having a different wavelength from the processing light and the measurement guide light having a different wavelength from the measurement light, and

wherein respective wavelengths of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light are set to wavelengths at which a deviation amount between an irradiation position of the processing guide light and an irradiation position of the measurement guide light due to a chromatic aberration of magnification of the lens, and a deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light due to the chromatic aberration of magnification of the lens are equal to each other, wherein

a wavelength of the processing light and a wavelength of the measurement light are different from each other,

the first mirror is a dichroic mirror,

the measurement unit is an optical interferometer that generates the optical interference intensity signal based on interference generated by an optical path difference between the measurement light reflected at the processing point and reference light,

wherein the irradiation position of the processing guide light and the irradiation position of the measurement guide light match with each other by adjusting the angle of the measurement guide light using the second mirror and thereby the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light match each other,

wherein the respective wavelengths of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light are set by obtaining the deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light when the processing light and the measurement light are respectively incident on the lens at a desired incident angle, obtaining a correspondence relationship between a candidate wavelength used for each of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light, and an irradiation position when a light having the respective one of the candidate wavelengths is incident on the lens at the desired incident angle, and obtaining a combination of the candidate wavelengths having a deviation within a target accuracy with respect to the deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light,

in a first optical adjustment,

the laser processing apparatus is configured to

align an irradiation position of the processing light with an irradiation position of the measurement light without using the processing guide light and the measurement guide light, and

record a deviation amount between an irradiation position of the processing guide light and an irradiation position of the measurement guide light, as a deviation amount of an initial adjustment position; and

in second and subsequent optical adjustments,

the laser processing apparatus is configured to

adjust a deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing guide light and the irradiation position of the measurement guide light to be equal to the deviation amount of the initial adjustment position.

8. An optical adjustment method performed by a laser processing apparatus that emits a processing light, a measurement light for measuring a depth of a keyhole formed by the processing light, a processing guide light, and a measurement guide light with which a processing point on a surface of a workpiece is irradiated, wherein the laser processing apparatus includes a lens that condenses the processing light, the measurement light, the processing guide light and the measurement guide light on the processing point, and respective wavelengths of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light are set to wavelengths at which a deviation amount between an irradiation position of the processing guide light and an irradiation position of the measurement guide light due to a chromatic aberration of magnification of the lens, and the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light match with each other by matching the irradiation position of the processing guide light and the irradiation position of the measurement guide light with each other, the method comprising:

in a first optical adjustment,

aligning an irradiation position of the processing light with an irradiation position of the measurement light without using the processing guide light and the measurement guide light, wherein the processing light and the processing guide light are emitted from a first source, and the measurement light and the measurement guide light are emitted from a second source different from the first source, and

recording a deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing guide light and the irradiation position of the measurement guide light, as a deviation amount of an initial adjustment position; and

in second and subsequent optical adjustments,

adjusting a deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing guide light and the irradiation position of the measurement guide light so as to be equal to the deviation amount of the initial adjustment position, wherein

a wavelength of the processing light and a wavelength of the measurement light are different from each other,

the irradiation position of the processing guide light and the irradiation position of the measurement guide light match with each other by adjusting an angle of the measurement guide light and thereby the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light match each other, and

respective wavelengths of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light are set by obtaining the deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light when the processing light and the measurement light are respectively incident on the lens at a desired incident angle, obtaining a correspondence relationship between a candidate wavelength used for each of the processing guide light and the measurement guide light, and an irradiation position when a light having the respective one of the candidate wavelengths is incident on the lens at the desired incident angle, and obtaining a combination of the candidate wavelengths having a deviation within a target accuracy with respect to the deviation amount between the irradiation position of the processing light and the irradiation position of the measurement light.

9. The optical adjustment method of claim 8 , wherein

in the first optical adjustment,

the surface of the workpiece prepared for the optical adjustment is irradiated with the processing light to make a minute hole on the surface, and then, a periphery of the minute hole is scanned by measurement light to obtain a center portion of the minute hole, and

the irradiation position of the measurement light is adjusted by using the obtained center portion of the minute hole as a center position of the processing light.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 19, 2020
From: YOKOYAMA, JUN; TAKECHI, YOHEI
To: PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.
Reel/Frame 054101/0382 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP JP2019-156755 · Aug 29, 2019 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20210060695A1 · Mar 4, 2021