In situ imaging of hole shape evolution in ultrashort pulse laser drilling.

For the first time, in situ the hole shape evolution during ultrashort pulse laser drilling in semiconductor material is imaged. The trans-illumination of the sample at a wavelength of 1.06 µm is projected onto a standard CCD camera during the ablation, providing an image of the contour of the ablated structure perpendicular to the irradiation for drilling. This demonstrated technique enables a direct, high resolution investigation of the temporal evolution of the drilling process in the depth of the material without complex sample preparation or post processing.