Laser dicing of electronics printed circuit boards using a DPSS UV Nd:YVO4 laser

Abstract

Laser cutting of electronics printed circuit board (PCB) substrates including FR4, and BT/Epoxy-based PCB substrates with 355 nm DPSS UV laser was investigated. The effects of various laser conditions such as scanning speed, assisting gas, repetition rate, and interval between scans on the heat affected zone (HAZ) and charring were studied. The quality and morphology of laser cut PCB substrates were evaluated with optical microscope, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was found that multi-pass cutting at high scanning speed can achieve high quality cutting with little charring. It was also found that with O2 assist gas, a certain amount of interval time between scans and higher repetition rate led to less heat affected zone and less charring. High quality laser cutting of PCB substrates with no delamination, very little charring and minimum HAZ was demonstrated. The developed process has important potential applications in the electronics industry.Laser cutting of electronics printed circuit board (PCB) substrates including FR4, and BT/Epoxy-based PCB substrates with 355 nm DPSS UV laser was investigated. The effects of various laser conditions such as scanning speed, assisting gas, repetition rate, and interval between scans on the heat affected zone (HAZ) and charring were studied. The quality and morphology of laser cut PCB substrates were evaluated with optical microscope, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was found that multi-pass cutting at high scanning speed can achieve high quality cutting with little charring. It was also found that with O2 assist gas, a certain amount of interval time between scans and higher repetition rate led to less heat affected zone and less charring. High quality laser cutting of PCB substrates with no delamination, very little charring and minimum HAZ was demonstrated. The developed process has important potential applications in the electronics industry.