Laser micro drilling

Precision and flexible geometry

Choice of different laser drilling methods

Micro holes from 2 μm in diameter

Right-angled holes with
high aspect ratio> 20: 1

The right drilling method For your needs

Microdrilling with laser radiation enables contact-free and force-free machining of all materials with high precision.

Both fine bores of a few micrometers and precision drillings up to several hundred micrometers in diameter can be introduced. Laser drilling easily meets the requirement for high reproducibility of the holes, as the tool does not wear out. Due to the melt-free ablation process, laser drilling with an ultrashort pulse laser enables post-processing-free precision drilling, which finds areas of application in a wide range of technical products.

Microdrillings can be produced by a number of different laser drilling methods: The decisive factors here are the microdrilling requirements, for example in terms of roundness or the drill wall angle, and the drilling rate to be adhered to in order to ensure cost-effectiveness for your microdrilling task. Depending on the requirements, drilling rates of up to several thousand holes per second can be achieved with high precision, low surface roughness and no burr formation.

Pulsar Photonics offers all common laser drilling processes and develops them further with new optical systems.

FAQ Laser Drilling

What are the advantages of an ultrashort pulse laser for laser drilling

Ultrashort pulse lasers allow laser drilling without melt build-up in almost all materials and with the highest quality. A number of laser drilling processes are available for this purpose, with which high-quality holes can be produced. The main advantage of the USP laser is the evaporation-dominated ablation and the high localization of the energy introduced, which enables laser drilling without thermal damage to surrounding areas.

Which materials and material thicknesses can be processed with the ultrashort pulse laser?

Virtually any material can be processed with ultrashort pulse lasers: metals, semiconductors, ceramics, glasses, plastics, composite materials even biological tissue. The USP laser is therefore considered to be a precise all-round tool for laser micro-processing. Typical laser processes are laser drilling, laser ablation, laser cutting or surface functionalization. Typical material thicknesses or processing depths are usually in the range << 1 mm, since USP laser material processing for very large ablation volumes is currently mostly economically unattractive.

How small can a laser hole be?

Typical diameters of laser bores with ultrashort pulse lasers are in the range of 20-500 µm, which differ depending on the laser drilling process. With new scanning systems, however, bore diameters down to the single-digit micrometer range can also be produced. More information about our small holes.

What is USP laser processing?

Find out more about the technology and advantages of the ultrashort pulse laser.

What laser drilling processes are there?

Our drilling methods differ in terms of the quality and drilling time that can be achieved. Pulsar Photonics relies on the drilling processes of single pulse drilling, percussion drilling, trepanning, spiral drilling and deep hole drilling for contract manufacturing. We offer the right laser drilling process for your requirements.

LASER MICRO DRILLING: OUR STATISTICS

Maximum number of holes per component

37078270

Minimum realized bore diameter

1.7 µm

Maximum number of laser beams in the process

16 Rays

PERCUSSION DRILLING & TREPANING with the Ultra-Short Pulse Laser

Percussion drilling & trepanning with the laser

When percussion drilling with a laser, the laser beam is briefly positioned on a fixed point on the workpiece and a defined number of laser pulses is applied to the workpiece.

The impinging laser pulses each remove a part of the material volume, thus achieving a through-hole in the workpiece. The bore diameter achieved is typically in the size range of the focus diameter.

For production ofform bores With larger diameters, the laser beam is also moved in the drilling process. This is referred to as laser trepanning.

Achievable qualities

Materials: Steel, aluminum, titanium, ceramics, plastics, …
Material thickness: 5-100 µm
Bore diameter: 2-50 µm
Typ. Aspect ratio: up to 1:5
Shape of the hole: Slightly conical due to the process
Number of holes per component: Individual bores up to several million

Applications

Ventilation holes
Microsieves
Electronics

Download application overview

Precision drilling with high aspect ratio

Precision drilling with a large aspect ratio

By using special optics for helical drilling, precise micro-holes can be made in components with material thicknesses of up to several millimetres. In combination with an ultra-short pulse laser, holes of the highest quality can be produced in almost any material.

Application examples are injection nozzles, spinnerets, vent holes and filter applications.

Achievable qualities

Materials: Steel, aluminum, titanium, ceramics, plastics, …
Shape of the hole: vertical bore walls
controllable conicity: +/- 5 °
Material thickness: up to 2 mm
Typ. Aspect ratio: until 1:20
Bore diameter: from 0.070 mm
Number of holes per component: Typ. Individual holes up to several hundred

Applications

Nozzle holes
Spinnerets

Download application overview

Deep hole drilling with the water jet

Laser drilling & cutting with water jet guidance

With short pulsed laser radiation, the
Waterjet method Achieve deep hole drilling with extreme aspect ratios (structure width / material thickness). For this purpose, the laser radiation is coupled coaxially into a thin water jet in a nozzle.
The laser radiation is transmitted via this light guide
guided through the workpiece while retaining their
Focus at. By moving the workpiece relative to the water jet, precise cuts can also be achieved.

Achievable qualities

Materials: Stainless steels, aluminum, titanium, ceramics
Material thickness: > 5mm
Bore diameter: > 300 µm
Typ. Aspect ratio: up to 1:400
Number of holes per component: Typ. Individual holes up to several hundred

Applications

Bores in turbine blades
Watch industry
Jewelry industry

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All you need to know about laser micro drilling

Learn more about laser micro processing
for industrial applications.

Download Brochure (PDF)

Laser drilling with diameters below 5 micrometers

Micro-bores at the limit of laser technology

In particular in measurement technology and in industrial separation, there is an increasing need for defined microbores in the single-digit micrometer range. With the Microscan technology developed by Pulsar Photonicsbore diameters down to less than 2 μm Manufacture reproducibly, even with a larger number of holes.

By using USP lasers, high-quality bores can also be produced in these size ranges.

Achievable qualities

Materials: Metals, ceramics, thin-film systems
Bore diameter: down to <2 μm
Material thickness: up to 50 μm
Tolerances of the bore diameter depending on the application:
- in the same machining step: up to < 5 % STDEV
- between components: up to < 10 % STDEV
Number of holes: 1-10.000