Drilling

Laser drilling is a proven processing method which is based around a focused beam of light to accurately and selectively vaporise a material. Unlike conventional drilling processes such as mechanical drilling, punching or electric discharge machining (EDM), with laser drilling the hole size drilled remains accurate and constant as there has been no tool wearing in the process.

There are a number of benefits to using a laser for drilling and cutting materials: -

  • Zero tool wear
  • Low thermal effect
  • Reduced surface contamination
  • Burr free edges when drilling metals
Both organic and inorganic materials can be drilled by the use of laser, to drill organic materials you would need to use a CO 2 laser with a wavelength of 10µm, where as for drilling inorganic materials you would need to use a fibre laser with a wavelength of 1µm. Ultimately the wavelength of the laser and the choice of beam delivery optics will limit the size of hole that can be drilled. With the correct choice of optics, you can achieve holes as small as 30µm (with a CO 2 laser) and as small as 10µm (with a fibre laser).