Production Lasers

LPKF MicroLine Series

Ideal solution for processing bare rigid and flexible PCBs or depaneling populated PCBs

When time to market is the driving force, fast alternatives to pilot production runs can be the key to success.

LPKF UV laser systems provide the flexibility, reliability and high precision that customers demand. By reducing product changeover time, increasing accuracy and eliminating tooling costs these systems simply produce a better product at a lower cost.

Advantages of Laser Technology

Compared to conventional tools, laser processing offers a compelling series of advantages.

• The laser process is completely software-controlled. Varying materials or cutting contours are easily taken into account by adapting the processing parameters and laser paths. There is also no need to factor in retooling times during a change of production.
• No appreciable mechanical or thermal stresses occur. The ablation products are extracted by suction directly at the cutting channel. Even sensitive substrates can thus be precisely processed.
• The laser beam merely requires a few µm as a cutting channel. More components can thus be placed on a panel.
• The system software differentiates between production and set up processes which drastically reduces instances of faulty operation.

Economical

All LPKF UV laser systems work directly from CAD data, and require no specific tooling. In many cases, the savings in tooling costs can cover the cost of a laser system in less than 10 months - depending on the tools needed per year. With easy handling and short changeover times our UV laser systems offer economical solutions to compete in today's on-demand world.

Typical UV Laser Applications

• Depaneling flex and rigid PCBs
• Cover layer cutting
• Cutting fired and unfired ceramics
• Microvia drilling
• Skiving (cover layer removal)
• Pocket creation
• Metal ablation (for circuit board creation)

LPKF MicroLine UV laser systems don’t compromise quality or precision over cost-efficiency. These three principles, which are critical to any manufacturing operation, are the driving force behind the development of the MicroLine 5000 series UV lasers systems from LPKF for the drilling and cutting of flexible PCBs.

Unsurpassed Drilling Performance

The MicroLine 5000 is the flex PCB industry’s answer to high through-put, high-yield drilling applications. With the ability to drill holes down to 20 μm, a variety of both organic and inorganic substrates can be processed such as:

• Flexible PCBs
• IC substrates
• High Density Interconnect PCBs

Common applications include the drilling of through holes and blind vias, with the additional ability to cut large mounting holes, or full perimeter cuts of irregular board contours.

Quality and Precision

The high-quality attributes of the UV wavelength allow for the cutting and drilling of delicate materials with minimal heat affected zone – and the proof is in the results: clean side-walls with precise dimensions and virtually zero debris. Available with either a 10 W or 15 W laser source, the MicroLine 5000 series may also be configured to work with various material handling options.

Contour Cutting

The MicroLine 5000 UV laser is a universal tool – and thus suitable for cutting all industry-standard panel sizes with dimensions of up to 21” x 24” (533 mm x 610 mm). The 20 μm high quality UV laser kerf width allows for cutting of even the most delicate contours at high speeds.

Process Monitoring

The MicroLine 5000 systems are equipped with an integrated vision system for fast fiducial recognition, ensuring accurate alignment. The camera’s ability to use virtually any board feature as a fiducial alignment point provides operator flexibility from job to job.

In addition, an integrated power measurement system at the work surface ensures reliable, repeatable control.