Laser Micro-Drilling
Laser micro drilling is the technology used to drill small holes, precise and clean holes down to few microns in almost any material with thickness ranging up to 2 mm along with the ability to achieve wide hole dia. It is a great alternative to standard mechanical drilling, broaching and punching.
Lasers offer a number of drilling advantages to its users over other more conventional forms of laser processes. The benefits include:
- Non-contact – Lasers use a non-contact process, meaning that it causes little change to the materials it is working with (except to drill holes of course!)
- Precision – Lasers provide precise control of beam intensity, heat output, and duration, meaning it consistently produces accurate results
- Hole shape variation – This level of control means that lasers can drill shallow angles and different shaped holes
- Small but high aspect ratio drilling – Lasers can produce holes with small diameters but high aspect ratio (this is where the depth-to-diameter is greater than 10:1)
- Automated process – This is an automated process and can easily be programmed for different uses. It allows for fast setup times and quick production rates
- Machine multiple use – The same laser that is used for drilling can also be used for laser welding and laser cutting, making it an extremely versatile process
- Material diversity – Lasers can work with a number of different materials, including plastics, rubbers, silicon, various metals and even diamonds
- Multiple simultaneous drilling – Some laser processes can drill multiple features at the same time
- Flexibility – also offers flexibility when it comes to changeovers for prototypes or small-batch manufacturing