Laser Micromachining

MLT specializes in laser micromachining and micro-manufacturing services with an emphasis on precision, small parts (< .125″ thickness) that require exceptional edge quality and close tolerances to 5um.

As feature sizes and tolerances exceed traditional machining capabilities, laser micro-machining has become the standard with little to no secondary finishing steps.

With an array of customize laser equipment, MLT’s laser micromachining services offer a wide range of materials to fit your project or part requirements.

Our clients include universities, engineers and researchers in the medical device, microelectronics, military, and aerospace industries.

Turn a part manufacturing challenge into a marketable product differentiation. As an extension of your machining capabilities, outside laser machining will afford more quoting and revenue generating opportunities. Multiple laser wavelengths, beam diameters as small as 13um, and integrated vision alignment exceed design specifications requiring feature sizes and tolerances below 25um. Your new capabilities will set your products apart from the rest!

UV, CO2, and Fiber lasers are ideal for cutting perfect parts from many types of sheet metal – alloy steel, aluminum alloys, brass, carbon steel, molybdenum, stainless steel, titanium, platinum, and tool steel. Some applications include slots for stencil masks, hole orifices for gas flow restrictors, slits in optical apertures or filters, and tubular parts with specific patterns. Laser cutting greatly simplifies the design and manufacturing process to produces intricate detail and very sharp corners.

Alloy Steel and Tool Steel: Since care is taken to control the amount and distribution of additives to the base iron, most alloy steels are considered ideal candidates for the laser cutting process. High strength materials such as 4130 (chrome moly steel) and 4340 (chrome nickel moly steel) display exceptional laser cut edges that are square and clean.

Stainless Steel: High-power CO2 and Fiber lasers create dross-free edges without deburring for clean cutting of sheet metal fabricated components made from stainless. The laser process minimizes the HAZ along the cut edge, thereby helping the material to maintain its corrosion resistance. At the same time, the cut edges are smooth, clean, and square.

Titanium: Pure titanium responds well to the concentrated heat energy of a focused laser beam. The use of an oxygen assist enhances the cutting speeds but tends to promote a larger oxide layer along the cut edge.

To view a more comprehensive listing of metals and metal alloys, click Laserable Metals.

Laser machining thermoset plastics and thermoplastics are matched in edge quality, speed, flexibility, and low surface stress. Large aspect ratios of 10 to 1 (feature size to material thickness) and heat affected zone (melt and discoloration) can be over come by selecting the correct wavelengths and power control.

Some applications include optical filters cut to size with no optical distortion within 20um from part edge. Acrylic cell phone screens cut with no visual heat affect resulting in clean, polished edges. FR4 or G10 insulators or PCB’s routed with smooth edges free from glass protrusions. Delrin for die board products with no cut edge discoloration.

To view a more comprehensive listing of plastics, click Laserable Plastics.

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 are Gerber, Excellon, DXF, or other 2D formats. In most cases, non-scaled data is required as MLT will make the appropriate scaling or offsets to meet part dimensions.

For more CAM/CAD guidelines and detailed requirements, click CAD Requirements.