2) United States Patent oy 6) @) (6) os) «2 658) LeClair METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE CONTROLLED FORMATION OF CAVITATION BUBBLES USING TARGET BUBBLES Inventor: Mark L. LeClair, 25 Jesse Daniels De ‘Buxton, ME (US) 04093) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the team ofthis pateat is extended or adjusted under 35 USC. 15446) by 0 days. Tis patent is subject to a terminal dis- climes, nats 78 Jul. 5, 2008 sted US. Application Data Continuation of pplication No, 10/263,067, filed oa Oct. 1, 2002, now Pat, No, 6,932,914 Provisional application No. 60/350,849, fil on Jan. 18, 2002 Int. Cl. Basic 122 (2006.01) US. € GIRS; 216/52; 216/56 eld of Classification Search 21682 21656, 83, 85, 92,94: 261/198; 606 6606/9; 219/121.12, See application file for complete search history. ‘US007297288B1 US 7,297,288 B1 *Nov. 20, 2007 (10) Patent No. (4s) Date of Patent: 66) References Cited US. PATENT DOCUMENTS 4231057 811980. Bvamatse S7s0804 A TI9RH MeCorkte (Continsed) (OTHER PUBLICATIONS Akhalov etl, Collapse and Rebound of Laser Induced Cavitation Bubble, CAV3001: Fourth Intemational Symposium on Cavitation, California Insitute of Technology un, 20-2, 2001 (Continsed) Primary Esaminer—, Fara (74) Atorney, Agent, or Firm D'Arcy H, Lorimer Lorimer Labs on ABSTRACT ‘The present invention discloses « method and apparatus for the directed formation ofa e-entrant micro:jel formed upon the collapse of a working cavitation bubble formed proxi- ‘mate 10 a work surface. A target bubble, Forme between the Work surface and the working cavitation bubble, is wilized to dirwet the reentrant mierojet to the work surfiee. 21 Claims, 15 Drawing SheetsUS 7,297,288 BL Page 2 USS, PATENT DOCUMENTS. SOS7I84 A * LOL Gupta etal. sosessneane 2685 S)437729 A 81905 Boater etal GA0843 A * 102000 Esch eta 06-7 SUR.914 B2® $2008 Leclair 21892 9605307 B2* 112005 LeClnit soso 2002004610 AL 32002 Pate ei 20020048977 AL_ 4/2002 Fletcher ea aoouo0040s5 AL* 1/2008 Bros 21613 a0p400s4357 AL* 32008 O°Donna ‘06s 2osooesi37 AL* 3/2005 Hum eta “e031 (OTHER PUBLICATIONS Iahide otal Cavitation Bubble Behavior Near Soli Hoamdaries, ‘CAV2001; Four International Symposium on Cavitation, Califo i Tostite of Technology un. 20223, 200 ‘Blake tl, Boundary Integral Methods for Cavitation Bubbles Neat ‘Boundaries, CAV2001; Fouth Interetiol Symposium on Cave tation, California Insite of Technology, Jum. 20-23, 2001 ‘Baghdassarin etl, Spectrum of Luminescece from Laser Induced ‘Bubbles in Water and Cryogenic Flids, CAV2001: Fou later tional Symposium on Cavitation, Califrnis Instat of Techn: ay, Jun 20-23, 2001 ‘Tomita eta, Enagy Evaluation of Schock Wave Emission and Dubble ‘Generation by Laver Focussing in Ligud Nitrogen, ‘CAV2001-Fouth International Symposium on Cavitation, Califor nia lost of Technology Jun. 20-2, 201 Christophe E. Brenaso, Cavitation ad Bubble Dynamics, Oxford U. Pros, NY NY, 195, pp. 70-76. * cited by examinerU.S. Patent Nov. 20, 2007 Sheet 1 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 Figure 1U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 2 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 Figure 2U.S. Patent Figure 3a Figure 3c Figure 3d 216 22: Figure 3e Nov. 20, 2007 200 Figure 3b 2 202 Sheet 3 of 15 US 7,297,288 BL J20a 204 204 WS WG 204 204U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 4 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 .200 202 Figure 4a 1-204 206 208 Figure 4b (22) Gr 204 210 230 204 Figure 4c > Q 202 214 . > 232 aoe Figure 4d —, T “A 216 202 200 222 226 Ye2oa 224 Figure 4e 200 202 228 YU.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 5 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 Figure 5a Se = Sn = 206 208 wa Figure 5b 4-204 A 210 — Figure 5c > ™ aay 2° i204 Z 214 S aw Y 4 232 204 Figure 5d ae 202 200 az 222 ce 226 {204 Figure 5e , 200 202 236 234U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 6 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 200 Y Figure 6a £202 eon ey 206 Figure 6b 2 on Y A 204 242 Figure 6c ~ 6 1-204 =a 244 Figure 6d _»' nae o~* 208 200 Zz 202 ot Figure 6eU.S. Patent Nov. 20, 2007 Sheet 7 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 310 —>U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 8 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 ge 376 Figure 8U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 9 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 400 Figure 9U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 10 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 Section A-A from Figure 9 Figure 10U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 11 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 Figure 11U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 12 of 15, US 7,297,288 B1 Section B-B from Figure 14 Figure 12U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 13 of 15, US 7,297,288 B1 Section B-B from Figure 11 Figure 13U.S. Patent Nov. 20,2007 Sheet 14 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 Figure 14U.S. Patent Nov. 20, 2007 Sheet 15 of 15 US 7,297,288 B1 Figure 15US 7,297,288 BI 1 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE, CONTROLLED FORMATION OF CAVITATION BUBBLES USING TARGET BUBBLES CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS, This application js a continuation application of co- pending nos-provisional application Ser. No. 10263,067 Sled Oct, 1, 2002 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE CONTROLLED FORMATION OP CAVITA- ‘TION BUBBLES USING TARGET BUBBLES, now US, Pat, No, 632.914, whieh claims the benefit of provisional application No. 60V350,889 filed Jan. 18, 2002 entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE CONTROLLED FORMATION OF CAVITATION BUBBLES, and claims benelit thereof, The aforementioned applications are herein incomporated by reference in their entirety. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to the formation and ‘control of individual micraa size and submicron size ev tation bubbles for use in nanofabrication operations. Mare particularly, embodiments of the invention teach methods and apparatus foe contol of a reentrant miero-jet formed ‘upon collapse ofan individual or aeray of cavitation bubbles and directing the impact of the micro-jet toward a work surface or other objects with a high degre of precision. 2. Description of the Related rt In general, the prodnetion of cavitation has boon. pho= nomena many have tried fo avoid. Cavitation in a liga is the formation, growth, and collapse of gaseous and vapor bubbles due to the reduction of pressure below the vapor pressure of the liguid at the working temperature. Pump Impellers, boat props, and similar applications experience ‘cavitation which can produce rapid damage and erosion of furfaces, It hat been well Keown for many years that ultasonic leaning deviees, which fonetion by’ the ereation ‘of eavitation bubbles, can produce significant surface dam- age 1 even the hardest of materials. Studies by a number of authors have revealed that one significant element in pro- ‘ducing the damage caused by cavitation occurs when ‘cavitation bubble collapses in the vicinity of a surface, Taunching what is called @ r-entrant mieto-et toward the surface. This liquid jet can produce velocities as high as 1500 mis, and is eapable of damaging the hardest materials known, ‘Recently, a number of applications have been developed utilizing the formation of cavitation bubbles through the use ‘of laser light or elecrial discharge. Esch etal. (U.S. Pat No. 6,139,543) and Herbert ota. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,400) disclose the use of laser light introduced into a catheter ‘dove forthe purpose of ereating cavitation bubbles, whose ‘expansion and collapse are uilized to pomp vids in and out ‘of the catheter: Hammer et al. (US. Pat, No. 5,738,676) ‘iseloses laser surzcal probe with a special lens designed 'w produce the cavitation bubbles further from the end ofthe fiber optics, to reduce the damage formed (presumably by the re-entant miero-jets launching into the lens on the end ‘of the eable), Such damage was also reported by Rol etal jn “Q Switched Pulses and Optical Breakdown Generation. ‘Through Optical Fibers", Laser and Light in Opthalmology Vol. 3, No. 3, 1990. Palanker (US. Pat. No. 6,135,998) describes a method for performing electrsurgery using 0 o 2 stbsmierosecond, high power electrical pulses are applied to fn electrosurgical probe interface. The tool described by Palanker provides a cutting force by both the plasma wen- crated by the electrical are and shock waves produced by collapsing cavitation bubbles, In each of the prior art references cited above, there has ‘been no attempt to conteol the direction and impact of the powerful micro-jets formed upon the collapse of the ca {ation bubbles created when highly focused energy is inro- duced into a liquid. Without such control, concem of col- Jateral damage cannot be avoided, especially when such tools are use i the human body in a medical aplication ‘Recently’ as well there has boon a significant interest genented in the field of nanotechnology, for methods ‘needed to fabricate micron and submicron devices. and nanomachines. There are very few fabrication tools avi able tht can eut, dill, pen, defor, or otherwise modify Teatures of a surface on a submicron to nanometer scale, ‘Much of the technology developed by the semiconductor industry requires the fibrication of structures wilizing pho- tolithographie processing. This technology isnot as flexible fas may be required, and will have cersin difficulties when applic to biological nanotechnology systems, Advancing the state ofthe a required by nanotechnology applications ill require fabrication technologies operating at least 1 10 2 onders of magnitude below that capable ia the semicon. {Guetor process arena “The invention as describe inthe above refereaced peo- visional application provides a method for the controlled formation of individual. cavitation bubbles comprising immersing a mask including atleast one aperture within a Tiguid, immersing a work piece having a work surface inthe liquid proximate tothe mask, generating a cavitation bubble proximate to the aperture such that the mask is located between the cavitation bubble and the work pices. A re- enteant miero-jet formed during the collapse of the eavita- tion bubble is directed through the aperture to the work surface. An apparatus forthe controlled formation of ca tation bubbles as described in the above referenced provi- sional application discloses a mask having at least one aperture, immerse ina liquid, and an energy source having fan energy flo in the liquid suficent to ereate atleast one favitation bubble. The energy How creates the cavitation Dubble proximate to the aperture and the collapse of the cavitation bubble ereates re-enirant micrjet directed ‘through the aperture to a work surface. While this technique is very useful for processing surfaces that ean be located conveniently inthe vicinity ofa fixed orifice, there are many other situations where one may wish dynamic, three dimen- sional contro of the direction of the re-entrant micro-et. These situations may include eye surgery, for example, ‘where placing an orifice structure inside the eye may not be ractictl The prior state of the art therefore as yet to provide a {abrication technology capable of operating inthe nanom- ter region by hamessing the powerful phenomena of the reentrant micro-jet formed during the collapse of a pre- cisely located cavitation bubble. What is further needed is 9 ‘method and apparatus to precisely control the direction and Joeation ofthe reentrant mer jet without the encumbrance of physical structure such an orifice between the work Surlace and the cavitation bubble, SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ‘The present invention provides a method forthe directed formation of a re-ntrant miero-jet including generating a