Laser micromachining in 3D and large area applications.

Holmes, A.S. and J.E.A. Pedder (2006) Laser micromachining in 3D and large area applications. The Industrial Laser User Volume, 27-29

Laser micromachining by ablation has proved to be a useful technique in many fields of advanced manufacturing. In addtion to established industrial applications, sush as the drilling of ink-jet nozzles and printed circuit board via holes, new applications are emerging, particularly in the areas of optics and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), that are ever more challenging in terms of geometry, machining accuracy, surface finish and /or processing speed. In the MEMS domain, these new applications are mainly in areas where 3D processing of polymers and/or glasses is required, such as micro-fluidics [1] and RF MEMS [2]. The most important emerging optical application is the production of plastic micro-lens arrays for large area displays [3]. This is particularly challenging because it requires rapid processing of highly uniform, optical quality components over extremely large areas (up to 1.5 x 2 m² ).