Methods

ACF Bonding is the process of creating electrical conductive adhesive bonds between flexible and rigid circuit boards, glass panel displays and flex foils with very fine pitch (<30 micron). The essential characteristics of this process are heating and cooling of the adhesive under pressure.

ACF bonding

Black marking – also known as dark marking – is a term given to marks that are:

• High contrast and dark black in color
• Permanent, corrosion-resistant and non-fading dark marks
• Machine readable
• Shallow surface relief so as not to retain bacteria
• No passivation step required after marking

Black marking is most often used in the medical device industry in order to meet UDI (unique device identification) requirements. Black marking is best achieved using a picosecond laser marker.

Read more in our Black Laser Marking paper or in our blog Corrosion Resistant Marking: Why You Should be Using a Picosecond IR Laser for Black Laser Marking Applications

Black Marking

In a Reflow Braze Bond the resistance heating of a low temperature brazing material such as gold or solder is used to join either dissimilar materials or thick/thin material combinations. The brazing material must ‘wet’ to each part and must possess a lower melting point than the two workpieces.

Brazing

Coil winding is the generic term used in the manufacture of electromagnetic coils. These coils are used as components of circuits and to provide the magnetic field of motors, transformers, and generators.

Coil winding terminations

Drilling – specifically laser drilling – is a process that can be used to make micro-holes in almost any material.  Pulsed lasers effectively complete this work by depositing very small, finite amounts of energy into a material, resulting in extremely precise and reproducible material removal.

Drilling

Engraving – specifically laser engraving – refers to a mark that removes material from the primary source, e.g., laser engraving on stainless steel. Engraved marks are resistant to weathering and suitable for parts that undergo a lot of wear and tear as in the automotive or tooling industries.

Engraving

Etching – specifically laser etching – refers o a mark that removes material from the primary source, e.g., laser etching on stainless steel. Etched marks are resistant to weathering and suitable for parts that undergo a lot of wear and tear as in the automotive or tooling industries.

Etching

Femtosecond lasers are the shortest pulse duration laser in the industrial marketplace. As the pulse duration of the laser is shorter than the conduction time of the material, there is no heat signature from processing, thus the laser is able to machine almost any type of material from glass to hardened steel to plastics.  The material removal is from solid to vapor – often referred to as “cold ablation” –  providing the highest quality machining and offer unique machining capabilities.

Femtosecond Laser

Heatstaking is a method of joining two or more parts, where at least one is made out of plastic. The bond is made by partially de-forming the plastic part to fix the other.

Heatstaking is the most efficient way to  bond metal to plastic, and is commonly used in high volume/low cost applications in the automotive, telecom and appliance industries.

Learn more about Heatstaking  in our Heatstaking Fundamentals paper.

Heatstaking

What is hermetic sealing? Hermetic Sealing is a variation of the seam sealing process which results in a closed package, completely sealed against ambient atmosphere, preventing the entry or escape of air. The hermetic sealing process is most often employed in the manufacture of electronic devices. Part design and fit up is critical in these applications to create hermetic seals.

Hermetic sealing

Hot Bar Bonding, also known as Pulsed Heated Hot Bar Reflow Soldering is a selective joining process in which two solder plated parts are pressed together and heated to a temperature adequate to cause the solder to melt and flow, after which the parts are cooled to form a permanent electro-mechanical bond.

Hot Bar Bonding

Hot Bar Bonding, also known as Pulsed Heated Hot Bar Reflow Soldering or hotbar soldering, is a selective joining process in which two solder plated parts are pressed together and heated to a temperature adequate to cause the solder to melt and flow, after which the parts are cooled to form a permanent electro-mechanical bond.

Hot Bar Reflow Soldering & Bonding

Laser ablation – or photoablation – is the process of removing material from a solid surface by irradiating it with a laser beam. Ultrashort pulse lasers (e.g. femtosecond lasers) are ideal for laser ablation and other micromaterial processing due to the minimal light / matter interaction which imparts almost no heat (cold ablation).

Laser ablation is useful for applications such as laser cleaning, selective area ablation, and removing insulation from wires (wire stripping).

Laser Ablation

Laser cutting is a  non-contact processes which utilizes a laser to cut materials for industrial applications. The cut and feature edges are generally of high quality with little no burring, low surface roughness and dimensional accuracy.

Laser Cutting

Laser Marking is a marking method which uses a laser to mark materials using a fine spot diameter ranging. The laser marks with short pulses (10’s-100’s of nanoseconds), providing precise control and negligible heat input to the part.

Laser Marking

Laser welding is a non-contact process which requires access to the weld zone from only one side of the parts being welded. Lasers produce high intensity beam of light which, when focused into a single spot, provides a concentrated heat source, allowing narrow, deep welds and fast welding speeds. Laser welding is frequently used in high volume applications such as in the automotive and medical industries.

Laser Welding

Laser micromachining is a precision non-contact process that uses a laser beam to remove small layers of material – often only microns (tenths of a thousandth of an inch) thick – from a sample surface. Typically the laser is moved at high speeds over a stationary part, going over the same path many times to achieve the desired feature. The laser micromachining process can be applied to a broad range of micromachining applications such as precision milling and selective ablation, wire stripping, drilling, surface texturing, and marking.

Laser Micromachining

Lid placement and tacking is the first step in a seam sealing / hermetic sealing process. The lids of electronic packages are placed on the cans and quickly spot welded to fix in place, after which the seam sealing process is initiated.

Lid Placement & Tacking

Projections are “dimples” or “bumps” that are pressed or machined into material at the location where the weld is to be made. Projections promote heat balance, extend electrode life and ensure a consistent current path ensuring more reliable and consistent welds.

Projection Welding

Resistance spot welding is a thermo-electric process where heat is generated at the interface of the parts to be welded by passing an electrical current through them for a precisely controlled time and under force. The “resistance” in the name resistance spot welding comes from the fact that the resistance of the workpieces and electrodes are used in combination or contrast to generate heat at their interface.

Following are some of the thousands of photos and video examples of resistance spot welding applications that have come through our applications labs.

Resistance Spot welding

Seam welding is a variation of spot welding.

In resistance seam welding, the electrodes are actually motor driven wheels which roll over the part creating a “rolling spot” seam. This process is most often used to join two sheets of metal together.

In laser seam welding, the part is moved or rotated under the laser allowing the laser spot welds to overlap.

Seam Sealing

Thermocompression bonding produces joints using indirect heat and force simultaneously.  The resultant bond corresponds to diffusion welding, meaning that it is not produced by melting at the contact points, but rather by solid body diffusion. Thermocompression bonding is often used for very small, delicate parts.

Thermocompression Bonding

Wire compacting is ideal for creating a solid fused joint in both solid and stranded wire welding applications. Tungsten electrodes produce the weld heat and ceramic tooling inserts “compact” the flow of metal from the sides.

Typical applications include wire welding, wire harness welding, compacting stranded wires and multiple wire assemblies.

Wire Compacting

Why are wires insulated?

Most wires are insulated in order to help prevent shorting, to protect wires from water and corrosion, and – in the case of medical applications  – to provide a smooth, slippery surface for comfort. Insulation also helps to reduce power leakage, increasing electrical efficiency.

Many manufacturers need to selectively remove some of the insulation to provide electrical contact points for downstream manufacturing processes. Lasers are ideal tools for wire stripping applications because laser wire stripping is non-contact, very repeatable, can selectively remove layers, can selectively remove areas and is easily automated.

Use lasers to strip magnet wire,  or to ablate insulation off guidewires.

Laser Wire Stripping