2. For laser cutting or drilling of circuit boards, only a few watts or tens of watts of UV laser power are required. Kilowatt-level laser power is unnecessary.
3. Flexible circuit boards are gaining significance in consumer electronics, the automotive industry, and robotics manufacturing.
4. UV laser processing systems have emerged as the preferred choice for flexible and thin PCB laser drilling and cutting. This preference stems from their flexible processing modes, high precision, and controllable processes.
FIG1: Comparison of cutting grooves between CO2 laser (left) and UV laser (right). The UV laser produces minimal thermal effects, resulting in clean and precise cutting edges.
Today, laser systems configured with long-life laser sources require almost no maintenance. During production, the laser system operates at Level 1 safety standards without the need for additional protection devices. LPKF laser systems are equipped with vacuuming devices to prevent the emission of harmful substances. Combined with its intuitive and easy-to-operate software control, laser technology is replacing traditional mechanical processes and reducing the need for specialized tools.
For instance, a CO2 laser system with a wavelength of approximately 10.6 µm can be chosen for PCB board splitting or cutting. The processing cost is relatively low, and the laser power can reach several kilowatts. However, it generates significant heat during the cutting process, leading to severe edge carbonization.
The wavelength of a UV laser is 355 nm, making its beams easily optically focused. A focused UV laser with less than 20 watts of laser power can produce a spot of 20 µm in diameter, resulting in an energy density comparable to that of the sun’s surface.
UV lasers are particularly well-suited for cutting and marking rigid boards, flex boards, rigid-flex boards, and their accessories. So, what are the advantages of this laser process?
UV laser cutting systems demonstrate significant technical advantages in SMT circuit board manufacturing and PCB micro-drilling. Depending on the thickness of the circuit board material, the laser cuts one or more times along the desired contour. The thinner the material, the faster the cutting speed. If the accumulated laser pulse energy is insufficient to penetrate the material, only surface scratches will appear. Therefore, two-dimensional codes or barcodes can be marked on the material to track subsequent process information.
FIG2: Multiple components of a substrate, even those close to the circuit, can be safely separated.
The pulse energy of a UV laser only affects the material for microseconds, with no significant thermal effect extending beyond a few micrometers from the incision. Hence, there’s no need to consider damage from heat affecting the elements. Lines and solder joints near the edge remain intact and free of burrs.
Moreover, the LPKF UV laser system integrates CAM software that can directly import CAD-derived data, allowing for editing of laser cutting paths, forming laser cutting contours, and selecting processing parameters suitable for different materials. Subsequently, direct laser processing becomes feasible.
This laser system is suitable for both mass production and sample production.
