A -- HIGH PRECISION, RAPID LASER DRILLING TECHNOLOGY

LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY LICENSEE SEEKS PARTNERSHIP WITH INDUSTRY TO COMMERCIALIZE HIGH PRECISION, RAPID LASER DRILLING TECHNOLOGY Announcement: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), operated by the University of California under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), desires to license rapid and high precision laser hole drilling technology. LLNL has a new technology for rapidly drilling precision holes with lasers. The technology uses two types of pulsed laser beams to achieve rapid yet precise hold drilling, even with high aspect ratio holes. The laser beams can come from one or multiple lasers. The first laser beam removes most of the material while the second laser beam operates more precisely to finish drilling the hole to the desired tolerances. The first laser beam operates in the percussion mode using an infrared wavelength. This mode uses a pulse length and power that exceeds the ablative threshold (approx.109 watts/cm2) to minimize the size of the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ). This first laser beam rapidly removes material and creates an initial hole (It removes approximately 1 micron of material per pulse with a pulse rate of 10 to 20 kHz). Because of its high repetition rate, the laser performs its work quickly with 300 micron diameter, 1 mm deep holes being drilled in about a second. The operation of this laser results in a rough hole since some of the ablated material - condenses on the sides of the hole. The second laser beam operates in the trepanning mode with a beam diameter roughly 10 times smaller than the diameter of the hole. It operates at the ablation threshold at significantly less power than the first and typically operates at a shorter wavelength. This laser beam finishes drilling the hole by removing the ablated material from the sides of the walls and. any small amount of starting material necessary to create the finished hole with the desired precision tolerances. Since the second laser beam does not have to remove a significant amount of material and, since there is no possibility of trapped ablated material to stall the drilling, it also finishes its operation quickly - typically of the order of a few seconds. As an added feature, the first laser need not drill all the way through the substrate, but rather, can leave a thin membrane which blocks the transmission of the laser beam through the sample. The second trepan laser can complete the precision hole by removing the membrane at the end of the drilling operation. This technique minimizes the amount of laser energy transmitted through the material being drilled, which is advantageous for many applications. When operated alone the trepan laser can drill 20 micron holes in millimeter thick substrates in a second with taper of less than 2:1 and with a dimensional tolerance of a micron. LLNL believes this is a very practical system. No vacuum chamber is required for this process as is often the case with ultra short pulse laser drilling. This hole drilling technique promises to work particularly well with the industrial quality lasers developed by LLNL, which have demonstrated thousands of hours of industrial operation. Also, this technology provides a practical means to drill holes in many types of materials including metals (refractory metals too), semiconductors, and ceramics. Note: THIS IS NOT A PROCUREMENT. Companies interested in commercializing LLNL's high precision, rapid laser hole drilling technology should provide a written statement of interest, which includes the following: 1.Company Name and address. 2.The name, address, and telephone number of a point of contact. 3.A description of corporate expertise and facilities relevant to commercializing this technology. Written responses should be directed to: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Industrial Partnerships and Commercialization P.O. Box 808, L-795 Livermore, CA 94551-0808 Attention: FB00002/03 Please provide your written statement within thirty (30) days from the date this announcement is published to ensure consideration of your interest in LLNL's high precision, rapid laser hole drilling technology.