BBW Lasertechnik GmbH
Phone: (0 80 36) 9 08 20- 0
Fax: (0 80 36) 9 08 20- 28
E-Mail: info@bbw-lasertechnik.de
Gewerbering 11
83134 Prutting
Fax: (0 80 36) 9 08 20- 28
E-Mail: info@bbw-lasertechnik.de
Gewerbering 11
83134 Prutting
The possible applications of technical ceramics (aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, silicon carbide, zirconium oxide and titanium dioxide), glass or silicon are wide-ranging due to their special physical and chemical properties. High-performance ceramics, for example, are abrasion and wear resistant, heat and corrosion resistant, and biocompatible, and have low thermal expansion and low density. Precision components made of these inorganic materials are used in microsystems technology, electronics, medical technology and sensor technology.
However, the advantages of these materials are partly disadvantageous for the machining process: due to their hardness and brittleness, they are difficult to cut mechanically. Chemical processing, for example to produce holes, is also only possible with concentrated acids.
The laser is the tool of choice for scribing, cutting or drilling glass and ceramic components quickly and accurately - with high geometry freedom and no tool wear. Laser scribing is a technology for separating wafers into individual chips in back-end manufacturing in the semiconductor industry. Here, a 20 - 50 µm deep kerf is first introduced into the material. The depth of the kerf is precisely controlled by the laser focus. The material is then broken along this kerf. The result is cleanly and precisely separated segments. Laser cutting of ceramics creates a continuous kerf, as a breakthrough, contour cut or hole. Key features of laser processing are ultra-fine structures with high-quality edge structures at high processing speeds.
Selective laser ablation removes the thinnest layers of ceramic to create three-dimensional depressions. The precise energy input of the laser thus creates the finest structures. Lettering and markings can also be permanently applied to the ceramic in this way - the insertion of part numbers and identification enables the component to be traced.
However, the thermal energy input into the material can lead to damage, such as fractures or cracks. To keep heat input as low as possible, ultrashort pulse lasers are used for material processing for sensitive components. UKP lasers allow high-precision and selective processing of ceramics without microcrack formation - whether in laser drilling, laser cutting, laser ablation or laser structuring. Precision components with almost any contours, even with tight curve radii (< 50 µm), functional surface structures and micro holes (from 40 µm diameter, for example for cooling channels or for venting) can be produced very precisely and without heat damage.