Micromachining Lasers: Ablation, Marking, Cutting, Drilling

Laser Micromachining Applications

There are a number of common micromachining applications:

• • Cutting and drilling: cutting or drilling holes in materials, such as metals, ceramics, and composites to create precise openings or to create patterns or shapes in the material
  • Micro-welding: welding small parts or features together with a high degree of precision – useful in applications where traditional welding methods are not feasible or would result in poor quality
  • Micro-molding: creating small molds or patterns that can be used to manufacture parts with a high degree of accuracy and precision – useful in industries such as medical device manufacturing, where small and complex parts are needed
  • Surface treatment: modify the surface of a material in a controlled and precise way – useful for applications such as surface hardening or marking, where a small and precise change in the material’s surface is needed
  • Ablation: removal of material from a surface by vaporizing – the critical characteristics of the laser are the power of the beam, the wavelength of the light, the beam quality, and the pulse duration.

Laser Ablation

The power of the laser beam is an essential factor in laser ablation because it determines the amount of energy that is delivered to the surface and the rate at which the material is removed. A higher-power laser can remove material more quickly and efficiently than a lower-power laser.

The wavelength produced by the laser is also an essential factor in laser ablation. Different materials have different absorption characteristics for different wavelengths of light, so using the right wavelength can help optimize the ablation process’s efficiency.

The beam quality of the laser is another important factor in laser ablation. A laser with good beam quality will produce a focused and collimated beam that can be directed accurately at the surface. The high-quality beam can help improve the ablation process’s precision and efficiency.

The laser’s pulse duration is the final critical characteristic in laser ablation. The pulse duration determines the amount of time the laser beam is incident upon the surface of your material, and a shorter pulse duration can help reduce the amount of heat generated during the ablation process. This can help to prevent damage to the surrounding material and improve the accuracy of the ablation.

Overall, the power, wavelength, beam quality, and pulse duration of the laser are all critical characteristics that can affect the efficiency and precision of laser ablation. Choosing the right laser and adjusting these characteristics properly can help optimize the ablation process’s performance.

Traditional laser ablation methods cannot be utilized to produce high tolerance machined parts with such small feature size,  due to the heat generated in the ablation process.  As a result, it is necessary to utilize ultra-fast lasers that have an electric field density large enough to create a Coulomb explosion.  This explosion caused by short pulse micromachining lasers can remove the material via a “cold ablation” process, therefore, preserving the integrity of the surrounding material.  In addition to the tolerancing advantage of the Coulomb explosion in comparison to thermal ablation, there is the added benefit that since this is an electronic effect, there is no need to take the materials absorption properties into account making this a wavelength-independent process.

How Can We Help?

With over 25 years experience providing micromachining lasers to researchers and OEM integrators working in various markets and applications, and 1000s of units fielded, we have the experience to ensure you get the right product for the application. Working with RPMC ensures you are getting trusted advice from our knowledgeable and technical staff on a wide range of laser products.  RPMC and our manufacturers are willing and able to provide custom solutions for your unique application.

If you have any questions, or if you would like some assistance please Contact Us here. Furthermore, you can email us at info@rpmclasers.com to talk to a knowledgeable Product Manager.

Alternatively, use the filters on this page to assist in narrowing down the selection of micromachining lasers for sale. Finally, head to our Knowledge Center with our Lasers 101 page and Blogs, Whitepapers, and FAQ pages for further, in-depth reading.

Finally, check out our Limited Supply – In Stock – Buy Now page: This page contains an ever-changing assortment of various types of new lasers at marked-down/discount prices.