Micro drilling

The flexibility and speed of laser technology can be used to advantage in the drilling of blind and through-going holes with a diameter of less than 100 µm.

As with cutting, two different laser processes can be distinguished for microdrilling: fusion drilling with pulsed lasers and external gas support, and sublimation-induced displacement with Q-switched solid-state lasers, for instance. Given the suitable choice of wavelength and power density of the laser beam, practically all solid materials (metals, semiconductors, plastics, ceramics, diamonds) can be drilled by laser. An example of an application for single-pulse blind holes a few micrometers deep is the deliberate roughening of surfaces for gluing and laminating processes. For through-going holes, single-pulse processes with a pulse duration appropriate to the thickness of the sheet can be used. The alternative to this is percussion drilling, in which a series of laser pulses is necessary to achieve a given depth of hole.

Suitable lasers: StarShape, StarCut 18