Ultraviolet laser micromachining of kapton: experimental and theoretical analysis

Abstract Micromachining technologies offer new opportunities for a wide range of applications in many technical fields, where very small components requiring dimensional accuracy on the order of microns are needed. Electronics, medical devices, jewellery, equipments for digital press, and many others are examples of such fields. Among available laser systems, Nd:YAG lasers are particular suited for micromachining technologies, due to the quality of the beam, the emission wavelength that makes the beam absorbable by the most part of materials, and the flexibility in beam manipulation, being for such reasons the most employed systems for micromachining technologies. In the present work, a new application of Nd:YAG laser in micromachining is investigated, i.e. the cutting of polyimide films. Polyimide materials are having considerable development in several industrial sectors due to their unique combination of properties, which keep constant over a wide temperature range. In particular, polyimide films find employment in devices where high resistance to heat and ability to prevent the propagation of fire are needed. In this work, an experimental investigation has been performed employing a Q-switched ultraviolet (λ = 355 nm) Nd:YAG laser system.