Case Studies

Case Studies

At Precision MicroFab, we’re at our best when we’re digging into a sticky problem.

These case studies will give you an idea of our capabilities, but we encourage you to call us at 888-592-5589 to discuss your specific requirements. We may be able to invent a solution on the spot that you haven’t thought of yet!

Like all proper welds, this laser weld is stronger than the surrounding material.

Laser welding metal

Laser welding metal with minimal oxidation and minimal heat affected zone (HAZ) outside the area of interest.

Working on the 10th iteration of the array on a single sapphire wafer.

Blind micro-holes in sapphire

Five by five blind micro-hole arrays drilled in a sapphire wafer using an ArF excimer laser.

Hole array created in stainless steel using an infrared laser

25 micron hole array

This hole array was created in stainless steel using an infrared laser.

 

Micro-channels with hemi-spherical bottoms, shown near a via hole.

Micro-channels

Micro-channels with hemispherical cross sections milled in polycarbonate.

The tabs on this sensor are joined to the main body with 75 µm wide struts.

MEMS Sensor

Sensors cut from 25 µm thick MetGlas.The struts are 75 µm wide.

Precision MicroFab welded plastic for a cell phone display.

Laser welding plastic

Plastic cell phone display welded using an infrared laser. The melt pool is 300 μm wide.


The varying depths of the holes are due to different increments in the number of laser pulses, ranging from 500 pulses to 4500 pulses, at which point the laser breaks through the glass.

Micro-drilling glass

A hole array drilled in 500 μm thick borosilicate glass using an ArF excimer laser.

This clever design, developed by Precision MicroFab, made a challenging experiment possible.

Micro-device design and build

Examples of micro-devices designed and manufactured for the life sciences, microelectronics and aerospace industries.

Note the square profile and flat bottom shown in the end view.

Micro-channels in sapphire

This micro-channel, laser milled into sapphire, is 90 µm deep by 75 µm wide.

 

Close up of the control panel.

Micro-manufacturing systems

Precision MicroFab designs and builds turnkey laser systems for micro-machining and micro-welding.

An array of holes laser drilled entirely through a 1.0 mm thick microscope slide.

Micro-hole array

An array of holes laser drilled entirely through a 1.0 mm thick microscope slide.

This micro G-force sensor was cut from 25 μm thick aluminum.

Micro G-force sensor

This micro G-force sensor, designed and fabricated for an aerospace application, was cut from 25 μm thick aluminum.

 

This polycarbonate nozzle, which features a conical entrance and exit, has a neck that's only 100 μm long.

Micro-nozzles

Using our proprietary micro-mill, we manufactured this polycarbonate nozzle with a conical entrance and exit.

The mixing chamber is 1.0 mm in diameter.

Micro-molding

micro-mold of a micro-fluidic mixer suitable for high volume production by hot embossing and cast silicone methods.

Linear fiber optic array like the one created as a demo for the Mars Science Laboratory Chem Cam.

Micro-milling

Micro-milling can be used for a variety of applications, including diode mounts and fiber optic arrays.

 

Probe tip as seen under the scanning electron microscope (SEM)

Probe tip shaping

These probe tips needed to be tapered down to consistent 6 μm truncated pyramids with a tolerance of +/- 2 μm.

This weld is leak free under intense hydrostatic pressure conditions.

Micro-welding tube

We use lasers to micro-weld and micro-solder at a very small scale.

These 50 µm wide leads are laser soldered onto a thin metalized layer deposited on a ceramic substrate.

Micro-soldering

50 µm wide leads are laser soldered onto a thin metalized layer deposited on a ceramic substrate.


A very ratty attempt to cut a channel. Notice the high degree of chipping and cracking.

When things go wrong

We’re on the edge of what’s possible in terms of micro-manufacturing and fabrication. Sometimes things go awry.

Our infrared fiber lasers can create irregular features in a silicon wafer with knife-edge quality

Silicon wafer cutting

Using infrared fiber lasers, Precision MicroFab machines knife-edge quality, irregular shapes in silicon wafers.