TEMPERATURE-MEASUREMENTS OF POLYIMIDE DURING KRF EXCIMER LASER ABLATION

The temperature at the interface between a thin polyimide film and a quartz substrate was monitored as a function of time during KrF (248 nm) laser-induced heating and ablation using thin film NiSi thermistors. These experimental temperature measurements were coupled with heat flow simulations to obtain time-resolved temperature profiles in the polyimide. Thermal properties of the polyimide were estimated by requiring that the simulations reproduce experimental temperature profiles. The peak surface temperature of the polyimide at the onset of ablation was subsequently estimated from these constrained simulations and a value of 1660 +/- 100 K was obtained for the observed ablation threshold fluence of 36 mJ/cm2.