Simultaneous machining of parallel grooves in SnO2 thin films using a Nd:YAG laser and a kinoform

A kinoform is used to split the beam of a Nd:YAG laser into six beams. The laser beams are, by means of optical fibers and collimating-focusing optics, transferred to the surface to be machined. Thus multiple grooves can be machined simultaneously. For demonstration, 100-[[micro]meter]-wide grooves are simultaneously machined into a Sn[O.sub.2] thin film deposited on a glass substrate. The resulting grooves are well isolated. This result shows that the technique could be used, for example, in solar cell manufacturing to increase the efficiency of laser scribing. Key words: Kinoform, diffractive optical element, Nd:YAG laser machining, laser scribing, Sn[O.sub.2] thin film.