In PCB manufacturing, it is necessary to punch and cut according to certain specifications. If each operation needs mold or protection board, it is too troublesome and inefficient. It is easier to use laser cutting. Laser cutting mainly includes carbon dioxide laser (CO2 laser) and ultraviolet laser (UV laser). Let’s take a look at their working principle, advantages and disadvantages.
Carbon dioxide laser cutting machine is a kind of gas laser which uses CO2 gas as working material. The discharge tube is filled with CO2, helium, nitrogen, hydrogen and xenon, with CO2 as the main component and others as the auxiliary. When a high voltage is applied to the electrode, the discharge tube discharges, and the laser output appears on the germanium mirror.
The advantages of CO2 laser are: there are abundant spectral lines, and there are dozens of spectral lines near 10 μ M. The output beam has high optical quality, good coherence, narrow linewidth and stable operation. It has high power and high energy conversion efficiency, and the energy conversion efficiency can reach 30-40%, which is also higher than that of ordinary gas lasers.
UV laser cutting machine is a cutting system using UV laser. Using high-energy laser source and precise control of laser beam, it can effectively improve the speed and get more accurate results.
The advantages of UV laser are: high performance UV laser has the characteristics of wave length, high beam quality and high peak power. It can reduce the focus spot size and ensure the machining accuracy. Different thickness, different materials and different patterns can be cut.
When PCB is divided or cut, the CO
2 laser can be selected. Its processing cost is relatively low, and the laser power can reach several kilowatts. However, a lot of heat will be generated in the cutting process, resulting in serious carbonization at the edge. UV laser is especially suitable for cutting and marking rigid PCB,
rigid flexible PCB,
flexible PCB and its accessories.
