Killer driller

German engineers have developed a laser-based spiral drilling machine that is capable of producing tiny precision circular drill holes far more accurately than alternative laser cutting techniques.

With conventional laser cutting, a large quantity of melt material is produced which has to be blown out under pressure from the laser. In contrast, the new technology, known as spiral drilling and developed at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, can operate very precisely to achieve structural geometries of less than 10 micrometres with minimal thermal loading of the components. It is seen therefore as an ideal tool for use in the manufacture of precision microengineered products.

Unlike melt propulsion drilling, with the new technique, a form of vapourisation drilling, the cross-section of a drilled hole depends on the cross-section of the laser beam being used. To compensate for any deviation or inaccuracy from a perfect circle, the laser beam is made to rotate in itself and placed in a circular path over the workpiece.