Micromachining of Metals with Copper Vapor Laser

G. S. Mendhe

Abstract: Laser micro machining is an advanced manufacturing method found expanded use in automotive, aerospace electronics, telecommunications & medical device industries. Copperbromide (CuBr) lasers with their excellent beam quality offered observable advantages and improvements in high precision and material processing at the microscale .In this paper the application of 8 W copper bromide laser for micro machining has been demonstrated. Micro machining experiments involved laser marking and micro drilling of metals such as copper and aluminum. It has been found that micro machining was greatly influenced by the optical and thermal properties of the materials. The laser marking and drilled holes are fine in aluminum as compared to copper because of its lower absorption and lower thermal conductivity.

Keywords: Micro machining, Laser micro drilling, Laser marking, copper vapor laser