Micromachining of thin CFRP with UV-PS laser pulses

Abstract

We have been investigating micromachining of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) with ultra-short pulse lasers in order to utilize the CFRP for various applications. The ultra-short laser pulses are advantageous to the micromachining of sub-mm thick CFRP because of the precise cutting quality with negligible HAZ. Considering the mechanical and thermal properties of carbon fibers, the CFRP has potentials to replace metals and would be useful for innovative devices in electronics industries. Especially, anisotropic pitch-type CF has high thermal conductivity (800W/mK), which is higher than copper. In order to characterize the laser processing quality of CFRPs, we tested UV-ps lasers to cut 250µm-thick CFRP sheets. Varying laser power, repetition rate and scanning speed, we observed SEM images of the samples. It was confirmed that the scanning speed of laser beams should be faster to avoid significant HAZ. Also PAN-based CFRPs were more vulnerable to thermal damages than Pitch-based CFRPs, while Pitch-based CFRPs required more laser energy to be ablated compared to the PAN-based CFRPs.We have been investigating micromachining of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastics (CFRP) with ultra-short pulse lasers in order to utilize the CFRP for various applications. The ultra-short laser pulses are advantageous to the micromachining of sub-mm thick CFRP because of the precise cutting quality with negligible HAZ. Considering the mechanical and thermal properties of carbon fibers, the CFRP has potentials to replace metals and would be useful for innovative devices in electronics industries. Especially, anisotropic pitch-type CF has high thermal conductivity (800W/mK), which is higher than copper. In order to characterize the laser processing quality of CFRPs, we tested UV-ps lasers to cut 250µm-thick CFRP sheets. Varying laser power, repetition rate and scanning speed, we observed SEM images of the samples. It was confirmed that the scanning speed of laser beams should be faster to avoid significant HAZ. Also PAN-based CFRPs were more vulnerable to thermal damages than Pitch-based CFRPs, while Pitch-ba...