3W, 5W, 10W, 15W, 20W, 30W... The power of UV lasers is also the same as fiber lasers, which has been constantly breaking through. With the increase of power, the application fields of ultraviolet lasers with many performance advantages such as narrow pulse width, multiple wavelengths, large output energy, high peak power and good material absorption have become wider and wider.
Ultraviolet lasers are not only widely used, but also used in the fine processing of various materials such as plastics, glass, metals, ceramics, PCBs, cover films, silicon wafers, etc., but also deeply used for multiple manufacturing of a single material Process. Taking PCB manufacturing as an example, ultraviolet lasers are used in multiple processes such as cutting, etching, and drilling.
1. PCB cutting
In covering film cutting, PCB mass cutting and disassembly (removing a single circuit board from the panel), UV lasers are currently the best choice.
The cover film constitutes the insulating area between the assembly components of the multilayer circuit board, which is used for environmental isolation and electrical insulation, and protects fragile conductors. It needs to be cut according to a specific shape, and the use of a fine ultraviolet laser can avoid damaging the release paper, so that the formed covering film can be easily separated from the release paper. The flexible or rigid-flex PCB material is very thin. UV laser can not only eliminate the influence of mechanical stress generated during the disassembly process, but also greatly reduce the influence of thermal stress.
2. PCB etching
The process of PCB from empty board to showing circuit pattern is complicated and requires etching. Compared with the chemical etching of the pattern plating method, the ultraviolet laser etching is faster and more environmentally friendly. At the same time, the UV laser spot size can reach 10μm, and the etching accuracy is higher.
3. PCB drilling
Multi-layer PCBs are made of composite materials by hot die-casting together to form semi-cured parts, which are easy to separate when exposed to high temperatures. The UV laser with the reputation of "cold" processing can therefore flex its muscles. Ultraviolet laser technology is widely used in the production of micropores with a diameter of less than 100μm. With the use of miniature circuit diagrams, the pore diameter can even be less than 50μm. Ultraviolet laser technology produces very high yields when making holes with a diameter of less than 80μm.
In order to meet the increasing demand for micro-hole productivity, many manufacturers have begun to introduce dual-head UV laser drilling systems.