Principle of Operation
Drilling with solid state lasers is a thermal removal process. Due to the strong focused laser beam with high energy density, material is melted and evaporated. As a result of the evaporation and assist gas pressure, the material is thrown out of the hole. To reach the necessary energy density, only pulsed solid state lasers are being used. There are 2 drilling techniques depending on the requested hole diameter.
Percussion Drilling This method, depending on materials, is used for hole diameters from 20 to 1200 µm. The aspect ratio (diameter/hole depth) can be as high as 1:200.
Trepanning In case the laser beam diameter is much smaller than the hole diameter, the trepanning process is used. The beam is lead by a rotating optic unit, which cuts out the hole. If necessary the part can also be moved.
For drilling of different materials such as - high alloyed steel
- precious and nonferrous metal
- tungsten and molybdenum
- tantalum, nickel, beryllium
- aluminum, titanium
If you would like to have samples done in our application labs, please contact our sales department.
If you believe you have an application for our lasers we would be more than happy to hear from you. |