Laser processing apparatus and laser processing method

Abstract

A laser processing apparatus is provided including: a laser generator generating a light beam; a branching means for branching out the light beam to a plurality of beams arranged at equal intervals; a shifting means for shifting the plurality of beams at a pitch equal to a multiple of natural number of the arranged intervals relatively over a target; and a control means for controlling the intensity of the beam synchronously with the shifting pitch of the plurality of beams.

1 . A laser processing apparatus, comprising: 
 a laser generator generating a light beam;    a branching means for branching out the light beam to a plurality of beams arranged at equal intervals;    a shifting means for relatively shifting the plurality of beams on a target at a pitch equal to a multiple of a natural number of the arranged intervals, wherein the relative shift of the plurality of beams being one of a consecutively variable speed and a fixed speed, the plurality of beams being applied to a target to one of remove foreign objects from the target and form a group of spot traces on the target; and    a control means for controlling an intensity of the beam synchronously with the shifting pitch of the plurality of beams.    
   
   
       2 . A laser processing method, comprising: 
 a first irradiating step of one of removing foreign objects from a target by applying a plurality of beams to the target and forming a first group of spot traces by applying the plurality of beams simultaneously to the target, the plurality of beams being generated by branching out a light beam generated from a laser generator and arranged at equal intervals; and    a second irradiating step of forming a second group of spot traces by relatively shifting the plurality of beams at a pitch equal to a multiple of a natural number of the arranged intervals on the target such that the first group of spot traces overlaps part of the spots, performing the relative shift of the plurality of beams by one of moving a positioning table and moving an optical system, the relative shift of the plurality of beams being one of a consecutively variable speed and a fixed speed.    
   
   
       3 . The laser processing method according to  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 repeating the second step of irradiation a plurality of times while considering the second group of spot traces as the first group of spot traces in each repeated second step of irradiation.    
   
   
       4 . The laser processing method according to  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 applying a number of shots S to a point, the number of shots S being obtained by the following equation (1):        S=M ·( P/L )  (1)    wherein P is a pitch between the plurality of beams, M is a number of branches of the beam, and L is an amount of shifts.    
   
   
       5 . The laser processing method according to  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 intermittently performing a relative shift between the plurality of beams and the target.    
   
   
       6 . The laser processing method according to  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 scanning the plurality of beams back and forth on a scanning line that has once been scanned.    
   
   
       7 . The laser processing method according to  claim 2 , wherein: 
 the plurality of beams are arranged in a matrix pattern.    
   
   
       8 . The laser processing method according to  claim 2 , further comprising: 
 scanning the plurality of beams back and forth on a scanning line that has once been scanned.    
   
   
       9 . A laser processing apparatus, comprising: 
 a laser generator generating a light beam;    a brancher branching out the light beam to a plurality of beams arranged at equal intervals, the plurality of beams being applied to a target to one of remove foreign objects from a target and form a group of spot traces on the target;    a shifter relatively shifting the plurality of beams on target at a pitch equal to a multiple of a natural number of the arranged intervals, wherein the shifter moves one of a positioning table and an optical system and the relative shift being one of a consecutively variable speed; and    a controller controlling an intensity of the beam synchronously with the shifting pitch of the plurality of beams.    
   
   
       10 . A laser processing apparatus, comprising: 
 generating a light beam with a laser generator;    branching out the light beam to a plurality of beams arranged at equal intervals;    applying the light beams to a target to one of remove foreign objects from the target and form a group of spot traces on the target;    relatively shifting the plurality of beams on a target at a pitch equal to a multiple of a natural number of the arranged intervals and at one of a consecutive variable speed and a fixed speed by moving one of a positioning table and an optical system; and    controlling an intensity of the beam synchronously with the shifting pitch of the plurality of beams.