The Study of Thin Glass Cutting Using Ultrafast Pico-Second Laser

Glass cutting is an essential step in the production of display panel use in the Flat Panel Display (FPD) technology, lightweight PC and cellular phone touch panel. Due to the brittle and poor thermal conduction, high quality glass cutting becomes a challenging manufacturing process. Possibilities to produce quality glass cutting (Corning Eagle2000) of thin thickness ranging from 0.7mm to 0.5mm using pico-second (ps) laser pulses are investigated. The mechanism of ps laser glass cutting is outlined. Optimal laser parameters for best glass cutting results are evaluated with optical microscope. Laser ablation threshold fluence for glass is estimated to be 0.08J/cm2. Our study indicated direct quality cutting of ultra-thin glass substrate (thickness < 0.5mm for the next generation FPD industry) using high repetition rate, high pulse energy, 10 ps time-scale ultrafast laser could be the ideal choice.