Ultrashort pulsed fiber laser welding and sealing of transparent materials

In this paper, methods of welding and sealing optically transparent materials using an ultrashort pulsed (USP) fiber laser are demonstrated which overcome the limit of small area welding of optical materials. First, the interaction of USP fiber laser radiation inside glass was studied and single line welding results with different laser parameters were investigated. Then multiline scanning was used to obtain successful area bonding. Finally, complete four-edge sealing of fused silica substrates with a USP laser was demonstrated and the hermetic seal was confirmed by water immersion test. This laser microwelding technique can be extended to various applications in the semiconductor industry and precision optic manufacturing. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America