- 13th November 2006

World's Most Advanced Ultrafast Micromachining System at Cardiff's Manufacturing Engineering Centre

Oxford Lasers has recently installed the most advanced ultrafast micromachining system of its kind at the Manufacturing Engineering Centre (MEC), Cardiff. The PicoLase1000 system will be a key enabling technology at the MicroBridge facility, offering unique flexibility in laser processing with the ability to machine virtually any material to microscale resolution.

The £7.5 m MicroBridge facility at the MEC, Cardiff University, was officially opened in October 2006 by Welsh Assembly Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks, Andrew Davies who said that MicroBridge would 'further enhance Wales' reputation as a world centre of expertise'.

The MEC, founded in 1996, already has an award winning reputation for design, development and manufacturing engineering and is set now to move forward as a major player in the field of nanotechnology where experts have predicted a global turnover of a trillion dollars by 2015. PicoLase1000 features the latest picosecond laser system with 532 and 355nm harmonics and 12 axis motion control.

Among its innovative capability is a dual beamline, automated trepanning system and special micro milling routines for ablating complex structures.

A confocal depth sensor with 10nm resolution is incorporated for accurate profiling of milled structures and a high magnification microscope for precise alignment tasks.
The excellent beam quality of picosecond lasers means that it is possible to focus on spot sizes of less than 1um within a practical working distance.Unlike other laser systems, the PicoLase1000 drills holes and cuts profiles with excellent burr-free edge quality at very high speeds.

Cardiff's MicroBridge facility will use the PicoLase1000 to complement its other manufacturing equipment and in particular to enable product miniaturisation and development of new manufacturing platforms for the next generation of microsystems based products.

Funding for the MicroBridge project was provided by the DTI, the Welsh Assembly Government and other industrial partners, including Oxford Lasers.

Oxford Lasers Industrial Division Director Martyn Knowles says: 'We were happy to contribute to such a worthwhile venture and will be working closely with the MEC throughout the 5 year project to develop and support picosecond laser micro processing'.
'We will be working with the MEC staff to provide specialist training in micro and nanotechnology. By producing such small components, manufacturers can save on materials, reduce component count and reduce labour - dramatically lowering overall costs and adjusting market pricing to become more competitive and increasing profits', said Frank Marsh, the MEC's Marketing Director.

'The benefits from this jump in technology will be almost immediate and will have implications across a range of sectors, including communications, optics and the automotive industry'.

For more information:
http://www.oxfordlasers.com/micromachining.htm