InnoLas has, says the German company, developed a laser cutting process that allows to cut chemically strengthened glass with a layer thickness of 50μm or more, requiring no or only little post processing.
Chemically strengthened glass has become a must‐have for advanced smartphones, tablets, and other portable electronics. It offers superior hardness and scratch resistance, but it presents challenges in production. The deeper the chemically strengthened layer, the more difficult it becomes to cut the glass with conventional methods. The InnoLas laser cutting process allows to cut chemically strengthened glass with a layer thickness of 50μm or more, requiring no or only little post processing. Additionally, this unique InnoLas glass cutting process enables high quality drilling and cutting of inner contours and features (e.g. holes or slots) into chemically strengthened glass with a DOL of 50μm and above, without chipping, micro cracks and breakouts.
The glass technology rapidly develops harder and more scratch resistant products, resulting in thicker ion exchange layers. Thus, it becomes more difficult to use conventional cutting techniques, as the tension‐compression in the glass grows and its tolerance for any kind of perturbation decreases. Conventional laser cutting is based on rapid heating processes, leading to vaporization and material removal. This process is not only slow, but will lead to low yield due to micro‐cracks, chip‐outs and a rough surface finish. The necessary subsequent grinding and polishing steps are costly and time consuming.
InnoLas laser cutting employs specially tuned lasers that cut brittle materials. This technique has demonstrated perfect yield and it allows cutting features, holes, chamfers, and more, in chemically strengthened glass.
Richard Grundmüller, CEO InnoLas: “InnoLas laser cutting has successfully cut glass with DOL of 50μm and above and demonstrated perfect yield at thick layers. This is a much higher yield process than presently available with other laser cutting methods resulting in excellent surface quality. Post processes, such as grinding and polishing are reduced to a minimum. ”
InnoLas Systems GmbH produces laser systems for micro material processing, particularly in the photovoltaic industry, for semiconductors, electronics and precision engineering. InnoLas Systems designs and manufactures machinery solutions as stand‐alone systems or for inline integration, perfectly adapted to industrial production conditions. Worldwide service and support ensures smooth setup and reliable operation. InnoLas Systems utilizes innovations in laser technology to produce highly‐efficient and reliable processing systems.