Potomac expands microhole drilling capacity

Potomac Photonics, Lanham, Md., recently expanded its microholes drilling capabilities and operations by adding several new precision laser cutting systems for applications such as catheter hole drilling, precision alignment of optical fibers, probe-card devices and leak test holes, according to a company news release issued Nov. 29.

Potomac Photonoics expanding its microholemaking capacity. Image courtesy Potomac Photonics.

What's more, Potomac has added a new Micro-CNC system that can mechanically drill holes as small as 100µm. In addition to the new hardware, Potomac also reports that it has has developed new processes to create precision holes in a wide range of materials at varying thicknesses. Potomac expects the expansion to enable shorter lead times, with some projects completed in less than 24 hours, and most jobs within 2 to 3 days.

In a recent project the company highlighted, Potomac reportedly "drilled thousands of holes as small as 4µm through 150µm-thick stainless steel." Other projects cited by the company included drilling microholes as small as 25µm through 1mm thickness Tantalum.

Motion control systems from Aerotech that are calibrated to standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology "means feature-to-feature positional accuracies can be held to submicron levels," according to the news release.