Microvias
Microvias are becoming more and more common in high density board designs of today. There are many benefits to laser drilling microvias, including real estate savings, impedance control, circuit reliability, and RF line termination. For this reason, MLT has developed microvia laser drilling processes to work with a very wide range of materials and via profiles to fit your designs that meet IPC standards.
MLT offers laser microvia drilling in both copper clad and unclad laminates. While we do recommend that outer layer foils be kept to half ounce or thinner for process efficiency, we are capable of handling much thicker copper cladding if your design calls for them.

Please see our PCB Materials section for more information on the range of materials that MLT is capable of processing or give us a call if you want to discuss a particular application.
Microvia hole diameters are limited by aspect ratio (hole depth to hole diameter). As the hole depth exceeds the hole diameter, laser drilling quality can be affected. Please contact MLT for microvia size requirements that exceed a 1:1 aspect ratio.
CAD or Data Requirements
CAD system integration and custom file converters enable flexible, laser manufacturing from customer-provided data. Although most file types are accepted, the preferred file types for microvia drilling are Gerber, Excellon, DXF, or other 2D formats.
For more CAM/CAD guidelines and detailed requirements, click CAD Requirements.
Drilling and Machining Tolerances
Positional: | +/- .001” over 12 inches |
Dimensional: | +/- .0005” |
Hole Sizes: | .001” and up in diameter |
Panel Sizes: | 24” x 30” without custom fixturing |
Dielectrics
Reinforcements
Woven Glass (106,1080,2216,2213,2313) | Aramid (Thermount) | Ceramic |
Non-woven glass | PTFE |
Chemistries
BCB (benzocyclobutene) | Epoxy | Cyanate ester |
PEEK (polyetheretherketone) | Epoxy blends | Polyimide |
FEP (fluorinated ethylene propylene) | Polyester | Acrylics |
LCP (Liquid Crystal Polymer) | PPE (polyphenylene ether) | BT resins |
Via Construction
Blind – single and double deep | Buried | Stepped |
Staggered | Stacked | Through-hole |