Cutting

Cost-effective, precision laser cutting of metals at varying thicknesses.

Laser cutting and precision laser cutting is used for almost all metals such as mild steel, stainless steel or aluminum, where the complex contours require precise, fast and force-free processing. Lasers create narrow kerf lines and thus achieve highly precise cuts. This process has no distortion, and, in many cases, no post-processing is necessary, as the component is only subject to a low-heat input and can usually be cut without burrs.

Compared to alternative techniques, laser cutting is cost-efficient even in the production of small batches. The great advantage of laser cutting is the localized laser energy input, which ensures small focus diameters, narrow kerf widths, high feed rates and minimal heat input.

Cut plastics and organics, including wood, acrylic, and leather at high processing speeds.

Non-metals such as plastics, fabrics, paper/cardboard, wood or leather are used in a wide range of industries including sign/advertising, fashion, automotive, furniture, and packaging. Lasers enable cutting of these materials at high processing speeds and with exceptional edge quality. The use of a galvanometric scanner is recommended when cutting very thin or very heat-sensitive materials, such as acrylics.

Coherent lasers are used in a large number of advanced silicon wafer applications, both in high-volume production and in the development of tomorrow’s advanced chip architectures.

As silicon wafers get thinner and new material layers are added, lasers are playing a critical role in processing these wafers. As wafers get thinner, they become more difficult to process with traditional saws due to increased cracking and chipping. DPSS UV lasers like the AVIA can dice thin wafers with good throughput and edge quality. Similarly, the very brittle low-k materials that are so important in today’s advanced chips are best scribed by a DPSS UV laser. Lasers enable narrower street widths on the wafer further increasing overall yield.

Laser cutting and scribing of thin glass and functional foils are important processes for the Flat Panel Display industry. The contact-free laser processes enable the trend towards thinner glass and advanced material mixes.

For thicker glass, the Coherent SmartCleave process enables single-pass cutting of thick substrates (up to 4 mm) for automotive and architectural applications.

Achieve optimal cutting speed and cut quality by using lasers to cut carbon fiber reinforced polymers.

Due to the fact that the melting point of fibers is much higher than the melting point of the resin, laser cutting of fiber reinforced plastic is challenging as the plastic tends to char and burn at the cutting edge. Best results have been shown by using lasers with very high peak power and short pulse length. If operated at a high repetition rate, good cutting quality can be achieved using a multi-pass cutting method.