- Joined
- Mar 20, 2007
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Hi all,
I hope someone here can advise me. I have recently bought a 405nm laser in order to pattern printed circuit boards. They are not flat PCBs, but spherical: copper-coated plastic spheres, with a layer of negative photoresist (where the light hits will end up as copper). They are mounted in a 5-axis milling machine, with the laser mounted in the tool holder. The machine moves the spheres around, drawing the tracks with the laser.
However, I am having some trouble properly focusing the laser to make nice sharp tracks. Can anyone help me? The trouble is not just getting a 0.2mm spot (which I can do) but totally cutting out all of the light around the spot. At the moment, the extra light is enough to blur the image. I have tried a mask, but even a 0.5mm mask causes diffraction!
Does anyone know how to focus a laser down to 0.2mm, leaving no extra light around the spot?
Many thanks
Hugo
I hope someone here can advise me. I have recently bought a 405nm laser in order to pattern printed circuit boards. They are not flat PCBs, but spherical: copper-coated plastic spheres, with a layer of negative photoresist (where the light hits will end up as copper). They are mounted in a 5-axis milling machine, with the laser mounted in the tool holder. The machine moves the spheres around, drawing the tracks with the laser.
However, I am having some trouble properly focusing the laser to make nice sharp tracks. Can anyone help me? The trouble is not just getting a 0.2mm spot (which I can do) but totally cutting out all of the light around the spot. At the moment, the extra light is enough to blur the image. I have tried a mask, but even a 0.5mm mask causes diffraction!
Does anyone know how to focus a laser down to 0.2mm, leaving no extra light around the spot?
Many thanks
Hugo