FEMTOSECOND LASER PROCESSING


FEMTOSECOND LASERS ARE ADVANCING CONSUMER ELECTRONICS


DEIVIDAS ANDRIUKAITIS ET AL.*, EKSPLA


At Ekspla, we have been designing and manufacturing laser systems for over 30 years, with the mission of delivering reliable solutions for both scientific research and industrial applications. Through regular collaboration with customers, we have gathered a wide range of successful case studies that demonstrate the advantages of femtosecond laser processing.


GLASS PROCESSING


Figure 1: TGV fabrication. Top left - selective laser etching of TGV, courtesy of WOP. Top right and bottom - percussion drilling of TGV, courtesy of Akoneer.


INTRODUCTION


The consumer electronics field continues to evolve rapidly, driven by tighter tolerances, higher quality, faster processing speeds, and novel functionalities. As manufacturing demands increase, femtosecond lasers have become an essential technology, playing a critical role in enabling these advancements. This article explores how femtosecond lasers are shaping the development of consumer electronics and powering emerging manufacturing technologies.


Lasers have long contributed to technological progress across various domains—from telecommunications and metrology to automotive, semiconductor, and medical sectors. Among the different laser types, femtosecond lasers stand out due to their extremely short pulse duration (on the order of 10-15


thermal effects—a process known as "cold" ablation.


Thanks to this ultrashort energy deposition, femtosecond lasers can ablate materials before heat spreads into surrounding areas. Compared to nanosecond lasers, this results in superior processing quality, minimal heat-affected zones, and the ability to machine brittle or thermally sensitive materials such as polymers, ceramics, and metals. In many cases, the resulting quality is so high that no post-processing is needed, simplifying the overall production chain.


Glass, being transparent, brittle, and hard, is a natural fit for femtosecond laser processing. Applications include cutting, drilling, milling, scribing, dicing, and etching. One process gaining momentum is the creation of through-glass vias (TGVs)—narrow, deep holes in glass substrates used in advanced semiconductor packaging. A single glass interposer can contain thousands of these features, demanding a process that’s both reliable and scalable.


Ekspla's femtosecond lasers have proven effective for both ablation-based and selective laser etching approaches to TGV production, across materials such as Eagle XG and Borofloat 33. Its broad parameter tunability makes it well-suited for handling the material variability seen in different glass types, making it a strong candidate for high-precision glass micromachining tasks (Figure 1).


POLYMER PROCESSING


Polymers pose a different challenge. Many are highly sensitive to heat,


seconds). When tightly focused, they enable highly localised energy delivery in both time and space, vaporising material with minimal


28 | LASER USER 118 DECEMBER 2025


Figure 2: Processing of polyimide with femtosecond laser operating at wavelength of 515 nm.


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