Laser Processes for Flexible Manufacturing of Fluidic Micro Reactors

Remarkable features of ceramic materials are the high hardness and the high corrosion resistance. These properties are highly appreciated by application, but pose serious problems in respect to machining. This difficulty can be overcome by laser machining. Hard and brittle materials like ceramics or temperature sensitive materials like polymers can be machined with precision in the µm-range. Laser technology has been applied for manufacturing of micro-scale components in electronics and micro systems technology. Laser-assisted etching of read/ write heads for hard discs /1/, drilling of vias in printed circuit boards /2/, or drilling of ink jet nozzles for printer heads /3/ has been proven as reliable techniques. The experience in production technology gained there could be easily transferred to the production of micro-scale fluidic or mechanical devices. Depending on requirements, nearly all materials could be structured by laser radiation. In the following, examples for laser machining will be given.