Laser applications in microtechnology

The production and machining of micro parts were in the past mainly made by technologies developed from the electronic industry, which is particularly based on silicon etching technologies for the production of, e.g., sensor elements. Due to the increasing demand for micro products in other production area such as medical-, automotive-, optical- and chemical-industry, suitable processes for machining parts from non-silicon materials has become increasingly more important. Laser technology has been qualified for microtechnology because of its high lateral resolution by minimized focusability down to a few microns, low heat input and high flexibility. Some examples for laser applications are micro welding, soldering, selective bonding of silicon and glass, micro structuring and laser assisted forming. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.