Precise & Repeatable
Able to create straight, smooth holes with extremely tight tolerances, laser drilling is a precise and non-degrading holemaking process.
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Laser Drilling
What is Laser Drilling?
Laser drilling is a non-contact holemaking process that uses a highly focused beam of light to drill holes in a variety of materials from metals to non-metals and polymers. Laser drilling achieves penetration in thin and thick materials using high-power laser pulses or wobble drilling techniques. Laser drilling systems are capable of both point and shoot drilling or on-the-fly drilling to create holes with fewer interruptions to system motion.
Laser drilling is highly precise and repeatable, able to create holes of virtually any shape and size with diameters as small as a few microns with exceptional resolution. As a non-contact process, laser drilling is one of the only methods of creating low-taper, high-aspect-ratio holes with depth-to-diameter ratios exceeding 10:1. Depending on material properties, laser drilling can drill hundreds or even thousands of holes per second.
Advantages of Laser Drilling
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Millions of 150 µm Holes Drilled in a 600 mm Filter
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Hexagonal Holes (2 mm Pitch)
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Trapezoidal Holes (2.5 mm Pitch)
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Angled Holes Drilled with a Single Laser Pulse
Laser Drilling Capabilities
Laser drilling is a highly flexible process capable of drilling larger holes in a single pulse, drilling angled holes, and even drilling millions of holes an hour.
Laser drilling is a highly productive, high-quality holemaking method for industries from filter drilling to medical and in materials including metals, ceramics, glasses, and even delicate polymers.
Laser Drilling vs.
Traditional Holemaking Methods
Mechanical Punching
vs. Fiber Laser Drilling
Fiber laser drilling eliminates the need and added cost of creating punch press tooling.
Laser drilling is a non-contact, non-degrading process capable of creating holes in thick materials with virtually no diameter restrictions.
Laser drilling is a non-contact, non-degrading process capable of creating holes in thick materials with virtually no diameter restrictions.
Mechanical Machining vs.
Fiber Laser Drilling
Mechanical hole machining requires consumable tooling and is limited by hole size, shape, and approach angle.
Fiber lasers do not suffer the same limitations and reduce cycle times because they do not require tool changes.
Fiber lasers do not suffer the same limitations and reduce cycle times because they do not require tool changes.
Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM)
vs. Fiber Laser Drilling
Although EDM is a flexible method for drilling high-quality holes, it is limited by process speed.
Fiber laser drilling is faster and achieves good results in a broader range of materials.
Fiber laser drilling is faster and achieves good results in a broader range of materials.
Chemical Etching
vs. Fiber Laser Drilling
Chemical etching can achieve high hole resolution but is often expensive and slow.
Laser drilling offers high resolution at significantly higher speeds and typically does not require expensive consumables.
Laser drilling offers high resolution at significantly higher speeds and typically does not require expensive consumables.
Discover Your Laser Drilling Solution
IPG is a partner for every stage of production from research and development to full-scale manufacturing.
Our laser drilling experts are ready to evaluate your application and offer a solution optimized for your requirements
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