Effects of Focusing Condition on Micro-Welding Characteristics of Borosilicate Glass by Picosecond Pulsed Laser

Glass materials are widely used in products such as optical components and semiconductor devices. In these products, precision welding techniques of glass are required to manufacture small and complicated shape. The laser welding method can perform the joining without an intermediate layer and an adhesive agent. In addition, an ultra-short pulse laser can reduce the heat affected zone with the high space accuracy. However, heating and cooling cycles are repeated even in the case of ultra-short pulsed laser. The temperature distribution and change of molten area are influenced not only by laser energy condition but also focusing condition. Therefore in this study, effects of focusing condition of laser beam on micro-welding characteristics of glass were experimentally investigated by using a picosecond pulsed laser. A usage of object lens with the spherical aberration correction led to a large molten area even at the same pulse energy, which related to the efficient welding of glass materials. An optical system with the spherical aberration correction led to stabilizing the shape of molten area, which resulted in the reliable weld joint.