T. L. VanderWert, Prima North America, Champlin, MN
Despite its proven capability in drilling small holes for various industrial applications, laser drilling is not being widely used in medical device manufacturing. New laser sources as well as improvements in the control of more traditional sources are leading to improved quality of laser drilled holes.
This paper presents a current view of capabilities and trade-offs associated with laser drilling in small holes in metals and non-metals. The paper summarizes capabilities of emerging short pulse length lasers.