Abstract: A turbulence-controlled vacuum debris removal subsystem safely exhausts particles ejected during photoablation. Nested interconnected chambers provide diminishing sweeping gas partial pressure and diminishing turbulence, ejecting particles from the ablation beam path between pulses, without compromising continuing particle conductance. Removal rate (debris generation rate) depends on conductance and particle sizes. The chambers interconnect through metering holes which enable optimization of partial pressure differentials. Controlled flow accomplishes debris removal, reducing turbulence of the mixture of debris and sweeping gases. A preferred embodiment uses a nest of concentric chambers, providing a clear light path. Another preferred embodiment uses orifices on chamber faces for removal and forming an envelope of gas around the processing region for dynamically containing the ejected particulate matter from the ablation site to the exhaust.

Abstract: Economical production of configured, laser-drilled, high-precision, ultra-miniature multiple-via-hole patterns is accomplished by multiplexing the homogenized, shaped, nearly-collimated output of one or more high-power excimer lasers into a set of beamlines, differently configured at different depths through the thickness of the substrate. A substrate delivery subsystem provides a continuous supply of film substrate strips or segments, which may be blanks or intermediates. Various stencils in a mask provide a cup-shaped partial hole, which is subsequently provided with a mating stem hole. Each stem portion of each hole is laser-drilled into the bottom of the cup portion from either above or below to form a via-hole with a desired configuration, such as stem-glass (or cup/funnel), as desired for multi-micro-via-hole arrays for filtering or for forming clog-resistant aerosol nozzles.

Abstract: The invention is a seamless projection lithography system that eliminates the need for masks through the use of a programmable Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) with high parallel processing power. Illuminating the SLM with a radiation source (1), which while preferably a pulsed laser may be a shuttered lamp or multiple lasers with alternating synchronization, provides a patterning image of many pixels via a projection system (4) onto a substrate (5). The preferred SLM is a Deformable Micromirror Device (3) for reflective pixel selection using a synchronized pulse laser. An alternative SLM is a Liquid Crystal Light Valve (LCLV) (45) for pass-through pixel selection. Electronic programming enables pixel selection control for error correction of faulty pixel elements. Pixel selection control also provides for negative and positive imaging and for complementary overlapping polygon development for seamless uniform dosage.