Laser precision microfabrication in the Japanese industry

The market for electronic devices such as cellular phones and microcomputers has been rapidly expanding in recent years due to their enhanced performance, downsizing, and cost reduction. This has been realized by innovation in the precision microfabrication technology of semiconductors and printed wiring circuit boards (PWBs) where laser technologies such as lithography, drilling, trimming, welding, and soldering play an important role. In photolithography, for instance, KrF excimer lasers with a resolution of 0.18μm have been used in production instead of mercury lamps. The laser drilling rate of PWBs has been increased to over 1,000 holes per second, and approximately 800 laser drilling systems of PWB are expected to be delivered to the world market this year; most of these laser-processing systems are manufactured in Japan. In this paper, the technical trends of laser microfabrication in the Japanese industry are described along with recent R&D topics, government-supported projects and future industrial laser precision microfabrication tasks on the basis of a survey conducted by the Japan Laser Processing Society.