Laser Hole Drilling in Thin Materials for both our shop service and our system integration:

Drilling holes small to large by the percussion and trepanning methods of laser drilling.

(Percussion is laser punching in a momentarily fixed position whereas trepanning is swinging the beam in a circle.)

We laser machine most materials. Notable examples are: stainless steel, ceramic, plastics, diamond, silicon carbide, copper, aluminum, and rubber. In the following examples we show first small holes and next, large holes. The small ones are by the percussion method and the large by trepanning.

Laser Drilling Small Holes and Vias 10 micron Diameter Holes Laser Machined in Thin Stainless Steel Example of percussion hole drilling, basically a laser punching operation. Minimum hole diameters down to 10 microns in less than 120 micron thickness (12:1 aspect ratio) in almost any material. Dense hole drilling with close spacing is easily done. However, the part is frail and becomes like lace.

Laserod's Capabilities and Guidelines for Hole Drilling:

• accurate, repeatable small holes
• any material except glass
• to 1 mm max depth (.040")
• the thinner the material, the better the results . . . and the faster
• two methods of drilling:  trepanning and percussion, as shown below..
• aspect ratio of depth to diameter is about 10:1.  Please note this applies to percussion holes ONLY.

We offer two laser drilling methods: percussion and trepanning.  In percussion the laser  beam punches a hole; whereas in trepanning the beam is swung in a circle to hog out a hole. Percussion is fast, and is therefore good for quickly drilling hundreds to thousands of small holes. How small? 10 micron diameter using a UV laser and 30um using an IR one. Smaller is possible, ask us.

More Laser Hole Drilling Capabilities:

Here are some more guidelines for laser hole drilling:

• Max Hole or Via Depth: 1mm
• Max Material Thickness: 1mm
• Min Thickness: none
• Max Diameter of Trepanned Hole or Via:  12"
• Range of Percussion Hole Diameters:  10-125 microns depending on thickness
• Min Diameter of Percussion Hole or Via: 10 microns
• RE: "taper": ask us. (We can control taper.) Typical "taper" for a 50um percussion hole in 300um thick silicon would be 50um entrance diameter with 40um exit to give you an idea.

Laser Drilling Large Holes in Silicon 3mm diameter hole (can be larger) Example of trepanned hole.  YAG laser beam is swung in a circle. This was laser machined in silicon to a diameter of 0.125" (3mm).  Si  thickness is 7 mils (125 micron).

Drilling diamond means we can drill anything!

Laser Hole Drilling in CVD Diamond Holes drilled in synthetic diamond using YAG laser..

Laser Slotting in Plastics and Rubber This valve bleed slot is cut  in rubber of 0.125mm thickness.  The slot has dimensions of 0.175 x 0.325mm (7x13 mils). Notice the slot is at the bottom of a blind hole.