Laser Drilling

Laser drilling is a precise process that utilises a laser to create holes in various materials. This technique is closely related to laser cutting, which can be considered as drilling an extended, continuous hole. The process involves a rapidly pulsing laser beam that strikes the target surface tens of thousands or even millions of times per second. Despite the minimal energy of each pulse, the extremely short duration and high power prevent the target material from dissipating the energy effectively. This results in a small detonation on the material's surface, ablating a tiny amount with each pulse. Repeating this process multiple times creates a hole.

Advantages of Laser Drilling:

• Speed: Depending on the required hole size, material type, and thickness, Microkerf has achieved drilling rates exceeding 200 holes per second.
• Precision: Microkerf can produce holes with diameters as small as 20 µm, which are typically invisible to the naked eye.
• Tooling: Laser drilling eliminates the need for specialised tooling, thereby removing dependencies on drill bit shape, size, quality, or wear conditions.
• Design Flexibility: The absence of tooling constraints allows for the creation of holes in various shapes, not limited to circular forms. If it can be drawn, it can be drilled.

Laser drilling is a highly precise process, particularly effective on shim-thickness materials. Microkerf is equipped with nano-pulse fibre lasers designed for high-precision processing, featuring very small spot sizes and high beam quality.

As a result, Microkerf can drill a wide variety of materials, including tungsten, copper-based, aluminium-based, and iron-based alloys, up to a thickness of 0.5 mm.