New laser techniques from Oxford Lasers enable the drilling of ultra-high precision holes in ceramics, for example an array of holes on a small pitch.
New laser techniques from Oxford Lasers enables the drilling of ultra-high precision holes in ceramics.
The image above shows an array of holes on a small pitch. Conventional and other laser techniques would either heat load the substrate, leading to the formation of a vitreous layer and micro cracking, or would be too slow to be economic.
Using the most appropriate laser, holes can be drilled with exceptional roundness, with excellent precision and with a clean finish. In addition, holes with converging, diverging or zero taper can be formed, with diameters maintained to within a few percent.
Other applications for these high precision holes include ink jet printers (30 - 60µm diameter), fuel injection systems (100 – 300 µm diameter) and flow / dosage regulators. A wide variety of hard materials have been successfully processed including alumina, tungsten carbide, silicon nitride and diamond.