Influence of tapes’ properties on the laser cutting process

Ceramic tapes are used to build 3-dimensional components and microsystems in layer manufacturing. The tapes are individually printed and structured before being stacked and laminated. The structuring process of the tapes affects the maximal resolution of fluidic channels, suspended bridges and beams, which in turn determines the scale of miniaturization of the produced components. The aim of this paper is to investigate if the tape composition can be optimized to improve the cutting resolution of laser cutting, which is a very flexible tool for micromachining. Using the Siemens star pattern, the laser cutting resolution was measured for alumina green tapes of different binder compositions with different laser settings. For all tapes the resolution was better the higher the laser beam velocity. At higher velocity though, a higher number of cutting cycles is necessary to cut the tape. The laser cutting resolution depends on the binder composition, but the laser parameters must also be optimized to achieve high cutting resolution.