Micro-Nano Processing: Femtosecond Laser vs. Picosecond Laser – How to Choose Tool?
In high-precision fields such as microelectronic manufacturing, medical device R...
MONO | 2025-11
FAQ
In today's rapidly evolving field of technology, the demand for precision in material processing is becoming increasingly stringent, and traditional manufacturing methods can no longer meet the needs of many applications. This paper provides you with an in-depth analysis of the mysteries of "micro-nano processing" and how femtosecond laser technology is leading this new era of precision manufacturing.
Micro/Nanomachining refers to the process of cutting, drilling, etching, texturing, or modifying the morphology of materials at the micro米 and even nano scale through high-precision techniques. It is not merely the removal of material, but also the creation of ultra-fine components with complex surface features, precise structures, and miniature geometric shapes. This technology is widely used in key industries such as electronics, medical devices, automotive, and aerospace, to produce a variety of high-tech products including microsensors, precision electronic components, and biomedical implants.
In the early stages of industrial manufacturing, drilling, sawing, milling, welding and other mechanical processing technologies were undoubtedly core. However, when entering the micro-nano scale, these traditional methods show many limitations:
l Tool wear and uneven quality: Traditional mechanical machining relies on the contact between the tool and the workpiece. As the tool wears, the machining accuracy and quality decrease accordingly, resulting in inconsistent batch products and frequent tool changes, increasing costs.
l 难实现精细特征：在微米甚至纳米级别，传统工具尺寸的限制，使得实现极细线条、复杂几何形状或高深宽比结构几乎不可能或效率低下。
l Thermal effects and material damage: The heat generated during friction and cutting processes can lead to deformation, micro cracks of the workpiece, especially for the processing of low melting point plastics, brittle or hard materials (such as glass, ceramics, silicon carbide).
l Post-processing is complex: To achieve the desired machining quality, it often requires secondary operations such as fine grinding, which increases time and cost.
Environmental issues: Some mechanical technologies may produce noise pollution or require cooling wastewater treatment, imposing additional environmental and safety burdens.
To overcome the limitations of traditional methods, laser technology has emerged as a powerful solution for micro-nano processing. Laser micro-nano processing is a non-contact processing technique that uses highly focused laser beams to directly act on the material surface, removing the material through ablation, melting, or evaporation.
The advantages of laser micro-nano processing are reflected in:
Non-contact: eliminated tool wear and stress damage, and improved machining accuracy and life.
High precision and flexibility: The laser spot can be focused to the micro米 or even sub-micro米 level, achieving fine features and complex patternization that are difficult to achieve with traditional methods.
Material universality: It can efficiently process a variety of metals, non-metals, brittle materials (glass, ceramics), flexible materials, and even composites.
Production efficiency: High-speed scanning and automated capabilities significantly improve production efficiency and yield rates.
Environmentally friendly: less waste is generated during the machining process, and coolants are usually not required, making it cleaner.
Typical application categories of laser micro-nano processing include:
Laser drilling:Micro-hole processing with high depth-to-width ratio and smooth inner walls at the micro scale.
Laser cutting: precise cutting of various thin films, brittle materials or parts of complex shapes.
Laser engraving: Forming patterns, codes, or microstructures on the surface of materials with controllable depth.
Laser texturing and patterned: changing the surface morphology of materials to achieve special optical, fluid, or friction properties.
Laser film peeling: Accurately remove specific film layers, often used in display, semiconductor and other fields.
In the family of lasers, femtosecond lasers (Femtosecond Laser), as short-pulse lasers, have become the core technology of ultra-precision micro-nano processing because of their unique "cold working" characteristics, and the processing quality far exceeds that of traditional long-pulse lasers.
The influence of the laser pulse width on the processing quality is shown in comparison between long pulse laser (left) and ultra-short pulse laser (right).
The uniqueness of femtosecond laser is:
Ultra-short pulse width: The pulse duration of femtosecond lasers is as short as one trillionth of a second (10⁻¹⁵ seconds).
Instantaneous "cold working" effect: As the pulse duration is extremely short, the laser energy is absorbed before the heat from the material can spread, directly converting the material from a solid to a plasma and removing it, minimizing heat transfer to the surrounding area. This means:
Minimal heat-affected zone (HAZ): Virtually no carbonizing, melting, and microcracking-type thermal damage.
Higher machining accuracy and edge quality: edges are smooth, no or only minimal post-processing is required.
Minimal material damage: Particularly suitable for processing heat-sensitive, brittle or transparent materials (such as glass, sapphire, semiconductors, polymers, etc.).
Near-universal applicability: Theoretically can process almost all known materials.
High repetition rate and stability: Ensure efficient and consistent mass production.
In a few words, femtosecond laser technology allows us to perform almost perfect material weapons at the micro甚至nanoscale, which is an ideal tool to achieve higher performance, smaller size, and more complex structural components.
Even if femtosecond laser micro-milling has unparalleled precision and the advantage of “cold working”, strict quality control is still an important link to ensure that the product reaches perfection. Compared with traditional processing methods, femtosecond laser processing greatly reduces common defects such as thermal deformation, burrs, cracks, etc., which makes quality inspection focus more on geometric size, shape accuracy and functional performance.
To ensure the perfect delivery of the final product, we conduct multiple quality inspections during the production process, including:
First piece inspection: Comprehensive and meticulous inspection of the produced parts.
In-process inspection: Real-time monitoring of processing parameters to ensure the stability of the production process.
Final Inspection: All completed parts undergo final dimensional inspections and appearance evaluations using advanced optical measuring equipment to ensure strict tolerance and design requirements are met.
As an innovative enterprise focusing on the research and development and equipment manufacturing of femtosecond lasers, Monochrome Technology provides high-performance, serialized femtosecond laser micro-nano processing equipment. We are well aware that in the field of precision manufacturing, every tiny detail is crucial.
We provide professional solutions and technical support to help you overcome complex processing problems and achieve:
Ultra-high precision: Achieving machining accuracy at the micro米 level or even the nano level.
Outstanding quality: achieving no thermal damage, no burrs, and smooth machining results.
Infinite possibilities: Breaking through traditional material and structural limitations to develop innovative products.
