CO2 laser assisted UV ablative photoetching of Kapton films

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Abstract
The radiation produced by focusing an intense CO2 laser pulse on a tungsten target under vacuum was used for the direct dry photoetching of Kapton films. Typical etch rates of about 0.5 μm/pulse and surface smoothness with nonuniformities of the order of 1 μm were obtained by the simultaneous focusing of radiation on the Kapton target from the laser produced plasma (∼1.5 J/cm2) and the 10.6‐μm scattered laser radiation (∼23 J/cm2). In contrast, no etching whatsoever was observed when the Kapton film was irradiated by each of the two sources separately (by the use of LiF and ZnSe filters) under the same experimental conditions. It is suggested that in the present experiment the extra energy absorbed by the Kapton film from the CO2 laser enables ablation of the UV sensitized layer close to the film’s surface.