Semiconductor Glass Via & Advanced Packaging
Laser-based process development and photonics modules for TGV drilling, glass interposers, and 2.5D / 3D advanced packaging.
Step 1 — Define your goal
What are you trying to achieve?
Pick the experiment / project closest to yours. We'll route you to the right system architecture and BOM.
Step 2 — Confirm the problem
Common project challenges
If any of these sound familiar, you're in the right place. WaveQuanta engineers have seen — and solved — every one of them.
Wavelength selection: 1030 / 515 / 343 nm
1030 nm gives throughput, 343 nm gives the cleanest hole. Frequency conversion is non-trivial.
Femtosecond vs picosecond
Fs gives lower HAZ and tighter taper; ps is cheaper and faster. Which fits your spec?
Hole quality: chipping, taper, HAZ
Sub-micron edge chipping and < 5° taper require careful focal control and pulse energy budget.
Scanning, focusing, and motion stage
Galvo + F-theta vs telecentric objective + XY stage. Encoder repeatability vs throughput.
Process diagnostics on the fly
How to monitor pulse-by-pulse energy, beam pointing, and hole formation in real time.
Microscope inspection station
Sub-micron metrology of every hole — co-located or after-the-fact?
Sidewall metallization compatibility
Cleanness of the via wall determines downstream Cu / Au fill yield.
Scaling pilot to mass production
Repeatability over 1M holes/day requires environmental control and stage stability.
Step 3 — Understand the system
Typical system architecture
Most projects in this area follow a similar signal flow. Your specific architecture depends on resolution, throughput, and form-factor targets.
1030 / 515 / 343 nm at the energy and rep rate matched to glass thickness and hole pitch.
Power control, polarization, beam expansion before the focusing objective.
F-theta or telecentric. NA chooses depth of focus vs spot size.
XY stage + galvo for fast trepanning. Encoder resolution defines hole pitch repeatability.
Pulse-by-pulse energy + beam pointing + camera monitoring.
Step 4 — Pick the modules
Recommended system modules
These are the building blocks. Each module is a category of products — pick the right brand and grade for your project stage below.
Femtosecond / Picosecond Source
1030 / 515 / 343 nm at the energy and rep rate matched to glass thickness and hole pitch.
- Yb fiber 1030 nm · 20–200 W
- SHG to 515 nm for cleaner holes
- THG to 343 nm for sub-µm features
Beam Delivery Optics
Power control, polarization, beam expansion before the focusing objective.
- Variable attenuator + λ/2 + PBS
- Beam expander for spot control
- Shutter & beam dump
High-NA Focusing Objective
F-theta or telecentric. NA chooses depth of focus vs spot size.
- F-theta f50 / f100 / f150
- Telecentric objective NA ≥ 0.4
- AR-coated for chosen wavelength
Motion Stage / Scanner
XY stage + galvo for fast trepanning. Encoder resolution defines hole pitch repeatability.
- Encoded XY stage · ≤100 nm
- Galvo + F-theta · kHz scanning
- Z-stage for focus tracking
Process Diagnostics
Pulse-by-pulse energy + beam pointing + camera monitoring.
- Pulse energy meter (per-pulse)
- Beam profiler
- In-process imaging
Inline Inspection Station
Co-located microscope or interferometer for hole quality.
- Confocal / interference scope
- High-mag objective
- Auto-focus & XY scan
Power & Beam Stabilization
Closed-loop monitoring on long runs — drift kills mass production.
- Thermal power meter
- Active pointing stabilization
- Environmental enclosure
Wavelength Conversion
When 1030 nm isn't right — SHG / THG modules for green / UV.
- SHG to 515 nm
- THG to 343 nm
- BBO / LBO crystals + harmonic separators
Step 5 — Match your project stage
Choose your project stage
Same modules, three configurations sized for where your project is today. Move up the tiers as you progress from research to validation to OEM.
Research Starter
Lab / process feasibility
First-pass TGV process feasibility on a benchtop. Validates wavelength + pulse-width window before you commit to production hardware.
- 1030 nm Yb fs / ps · ≤20 W
- Manual XY stage + galvo
- Telecentric objective
- Pulse energy + beam profile diagnostics
- Microscope station for offline inspection
BOM tier: $80k – $200k
Engineering Validation
Process development · pilot
Production-grade development beamline. Multi-wavelength (1030/515/343), encoded stage, in-line diagnostics. The system you'll use to qualify your final spec.
- 1030 / 515 / 343 nm Yb chain
- 100–200 W base laser
- Encoded XY stage · sub-100 nm
- F-theta + galvo
- In-line pulse energy + pointing
- Inline inspection scope
- Process data logging
BOM tier: $300k – $800k
OEM Production
Equipment OEM · 24/7 line
Sealed industrial laser, high-throughput scanner, full process recipe export. For glass and packaging equipment OEMs putting TGV into a commercial tool.
- Sealed industrial fs / ps laser
- Closed-loop wavelength control
- High-throughput galvo + telecentric
- Integrated SECS/GEM hooks
- Full quality docs (CE / SEMI)
- Long-term supply contract
- Batch testing reports
BOM tier: $800k+ · contract pricing
Step 6 — Run the numbers
Recommended calculators
Sanity-check your design before talking to an engineer.
Step 7 — Configure the system
Configure your setup with our engineering tools
Two ways to go from "this is what I want to do" to "this is the BOM I need".
Open TGV Process Virtual Lab
Place your fs source, focusing objective, and motion stage on a 3D process bench. Validate the beam path, export a BOM, share with your equipment vendor.
Launch Virtual LabAsk AI to scope my TGV process
Describe your glass type, thickness, hole diameter, density, and quality target. AI Concierge proposes wavelength, pulse width, optics, and motion strategy in 30 seconds.
Open AI ConciergeStep 8 — Anchor SKUs
Featured products for this application
Common picks for this application area. Your final BOM will pull from a wider catalog and be sized to your project tier.
Yi-Laser
HELIOS Femtosecond Laser
Yi-Laser
HYPERION-G MPC Pulse Compressor
WaveQuanta
800 nm Chirped Mirror PC1332m-AR-100-25
WaveQuanta
Encoded XY Translation Stage
Princeton Instruments
Pulse Energy Meter
WaveQuanta
Kalas Beam / Energy Analyzer
WaveQuanta
Harmonic Beam Splitter HR515 nm / HT1030 nm @ 45°
Princeton Instruments
NIRvana InGaAs Camera (Process Inspection)
Step 9 — Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the questions our application engineers hear most often.
Femtosecond or picosecond — which is right for TGV?
Fs gives the cleanest holes (sub-µm chipping, < 5° taper) but is more expensive and slower. Ps is faster and cheaper but produces more thermal damage and wider taper. Most pilot lines start with fs to qualify the process spec, then evaluate whether ps meets the production yield target.
Which wavelength: 1030, 515, or 343 nm?
1030 nm: highest throughput, but glass absorption is non-linear (multi-photon), which limits hole quality. 515 nm: a good middle ground — better absorption, smaller spots, only 2× more expensive than 1030. 343 nm: cleanest holes, sub-µm features, but the most expensive and lowest throughput. Most teams converge on 515 nm for production.
How thick can we drill?
State-of-the-art commercial TGV reaches ~500 µm with high quality and ~1 mm with degraded sidewall. UTG (50–150 µm) is the easiest case. For thicker glass, expect taper > 5° unless you use a beam-shaping module or trepanning strategy.
Do I need an inline inspection station?
For pilot, no — offline microscope inspection is fine. For production with millions of holes per day, yes — inline inspection lets you catch process drift before you build a bad panel. WaveQuanta integrates confocal or interferometric scope co-located with the laser station.
What's the realistic hole-rate / throughput?
Single-pulse drilling: 1–10 kHz × 1 hole = 1–10 kHz hole rate, but typically 5–50 pulses per hole. Trepanning: slower per hole but better quality. With a 1 MHz fs laser and galvo: 1–10K holes/sec is achievable for small holes; large or deep holes drop to 100–1K /sec.
How do you control hole-to-hole variation in mass production?
Three pillars: (1) per-pulse energy monitoring + closed-loop AOM attenuation, (2) active beam pointing stabilization, (3) environmental enclosure (temperature, humidity, vibration). Without all three, drift over a 24-hour run will exceed your spec.
Can WaveQuanta provide the full process recipe?
For Engineering Validation tier and above, yes — we run process qualification on your specific glass type and deliver a documented recipe (laser settings, scan strategy, focal trajectory) along with the hardware. For Research Starter, we provide best-practice starting points and you tune on your sample.
Long-term supply for OEM tools?
Yi-Laser fs lasers and WaveQuanta optics modules support 5+ year supply contracts with batch consistency reports. Standard for medical / SEMI OEM customers building TGV into a commercial inspection or processing tool.
Step 10 — Engineering Review
Application Engineering Review
Tell us your application, current setup, and project context. A WaveQuanta application engineer will return initial recommendations within 1 business day.
- 1 Application
- 2 Current setup
- 3 Project & purchase