By Ronald D. Schaeffer

Laser micromanufacturing is just like traditional manufacturing except that we use photons (light!) instead of, for instance, drill bits and saw blades. Lasers are used for machining, marking, welding and surface treatment. This article provides a brief summary of how lasers are used in several exemplary situations. In conclusion, a discussion is made concerning the use of Contract Manufacturers with respect to owning in-house laser tools. First though, it is important to define ‘micromanufacturing.’ Our definition of it is that the process involves lasers for material removal, addition or alteration and furthermore, the feature sizes on target are less than 1 mm (and usually much less) and the material thickness is also less than 1 mm (and again, usually much less). Continue reading →