When considering excimer laser use, keep the following operational costs in mind:
Balancing production throughput vs. system cost is essential. Using an excimer laser at average powers with below-maximum specifications reduces costs and significantly extends laser life. Lower product throughput rates can be justified by significantly higher up-time using lower power lasers.
Proper implementation of excimer lasers includes planning for maintenance procedures.
Efficient beam utilization is key to economic performance. Efficient beam delivery permits a smaller laser to perform the same job as a more powerful laser, thereby decreasing system operation costs. Optical systems should be designed so that as much of the laser beam as possible reaches target. Minimizing the number of optical elements in the beam delivery system is key and optical systems should be insensitive to beam quality since laser performance can vary over short time frames.
Excimer systems are best applied to high value-added processes, but less expensive alternative processes should be tried first. Excimer lasers are best applied when precision requirements outweigh bulk throughput requirements. However, excimer lasers are often the only effective, practical, and cost-effective manufacturing method available for specific micromachining applications.