Micromachining
Ultrashort interaction times between laser pulse and material lead to very little heat diffusion and enable materials processing with virtually no damage or burrs. Due to non linear absorption any material can be machined. Applications include:
- Slots: laser milling of structures with typical sizes of tens of micrometers with micrometer accuracy.
- Holes: high aspect ratio blind and through holes with minimal diameters in the micrometer range.
- Cuts: precise cuts of arbitrary design in foils or wafers.
Examples
Hexagonal pattern of through holes in 0,1 mm steel. The edges measure 20 μm in width. This pattern is used as a mold in the fabrication of scaffolds for tissue engineering.
Ten micrometer diameter holes in a porous polymer. The porosity of the hole walls can be adjusted by tuning the laser parameters.