Bore diameter from 3 µm

Highest precision

Flexible hole taper

Laser drilling at a glance

Laser drilling of micro-holes, also known as micro-vias, with well-defined geometry is becoming increasingly important in various industry sectors. The applications are highly diverse. Laser drilling with different strategies has prevailed over conventional manufacturing processes in multiple areas.
Application areas range from producing micro-holes in flow filters and micro sieves to holes in high-performance solar cells and injection nozzles in the automotive industry and the production of inkjet printing nozzles.

The advantages of laser drilling

  • Extraordinary design freedom in hole geometry

  • High precision, accuracy, and repeatability

  • Hole diameters from 3 µm

  • Nearly no heat input into the surrounding material

  • No microcracks

  • Sharp-edged hole rim without throw-ups and burrs

  • No postprocessing necessary

  • Non-contact process

  • No tool wear

  • High flexibility

Laser drilling is a force- and contact-free machining process. Therefore, there is no deformation of the material by tools. Furthermore, there are no additional tooling costs by wear.
Laser technology convinces with its precisely dosed energy input, the low heat input into the material, and the extraordinarily high precision and reproducibility. Postprocessing is not necessary.
Additional advantages appear from the flexibility in the bore geometry. For example, it is possible to produce micro-holes with a large aspect ratio (the ratio of drilling depth to hole diameter) or even holes with defined wall angles by varying the machining strategy.

Laser drilling for inkjet printing nozzles in stainless steel Laser drilling for inkjet printing nozzles in stainless steel
Laser drilling for inkjet printing nozzles in stainless steel Laser drilling of an inkjet printing nozzle in PI Laser drilling in molybdenum, material thickness 50 µm Laser drilling in sapphire Laser drilling in sapphire

Areas of application

  • Medical technology
  • Electronics
  • Automotive industry
  • Semiconductor industry

Further information

Download Flyer Laser Drilling

Machinable materials

  • Metals (stainless steel, brass, Al, Au, Ag, Ni, Wo, etc.)
  • Ceramics (Al2O3, ZrO2, PZT…)
  • Glass (B33, Nexterion, Quartz glass, Sapphire, High Index…)
  • Polymers (stacks, PET, PI, stacks with metal layer…)
  • Semiconductors (Si, SiC)
  • Thin films (ITO, MAM…)
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Laser sources

Depending on the application and task, different lasers are used to produce micro-holes. While excimer or solid-state lasers in the UV range are often used for plastics, solid-state lasers in the visible or infrared spectral range are mainly used for metal processing.

The size of the holes depends, among other things, on the material, beam source, pulse duration, and energy density. Therefore it can vary from a few micrometers to several millimeters. Another decisive factor is the choice of a drilling technique.

Different laser drilling techniques

But there needs to be more than choosing the right laser source. The appropriate drilling method also plays a crucial role. Well-known drilling techniques are percussion drilling and trepanning. In percussion drilling, several laser pulses are guided onto the material’s surface until the hole is generated or the required drilling depth is achieved. This process is extremely fast. Thousands of holes can be produced per second. Depending on the beam guidance, holes with a fixed diameter or a variable hole geometry (conicity) can be realized.

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