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Laser technology seize the 3C industry trend to achieve a breakthrough

2023-05-10 16:27:20Source:CIOE

CIOE Laser Technology & Intelligent Manufacturing Expo focuses on innovative applications of lasers in downstream areas, concentrating on popular products such as laser materials and components, lasers, laser components and auxiliary systems, laser equipment, mechanical system and numerical control system, 3D printing/additive manufacturing, 3C electronic intelligent equipment, robot, and industrial automation.


In this article, CIOE will start with laser welding, laser cutting, LDS forming, laser projection and other technologies to give you a comprehensive understanding of laser applications in 3C manufacturing.


<Overview of laser applications in 3C industry>


Laser as an important production and processing technology is widely used in the 3C industry. 3C is the abbreviation of three types of electronic products: computer, communication, and consumer electronics.


  • Computer: including laptop, tablet, various computer hardware and equipment, etc.

  • Communication: including wireless communication equipment, user terminal equipment, switching equipment, transmission equipment. In recent years, the mobile phone and telecom industries are the main point.

  • Consumer electronics: including digital camera, PDA, e-dictionary, speaker, headphone, projector, and other digitalized products, all of which are consumer electronics products.


Same as laser applications in the lithium industry, lasers are mainly used for welding, cutting, marking, cleaning, etching, etc.


<Laser Welding>


Laser welding systems include lasers, laser heads and automated production lines. Laser welding is usually applied in 3C industry: camera, connector, vibration motor, shielding part, fingerprint identification module, hardware, cell phone middle frame, SIM card holder, battery component, heat dissipation module, etc.


Laser welding in 3C battery applications and automotive lithium battery applications are mostly similar, but 3C batteries tend to be smaller. The short lifetime of the 3C industry, continuous cost reduction, flexible global transportation, large volume, and other characteristics also make the application of laser welding in 3C batteries unique.


The following are some examples of laser welding applications in the 3C industry:


(1)  Button battery 


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Wearable product button battery electrodes welding


With the development of 3C electronic industry, customers have higher requirements for battery safety, following higher requirements in production process and production line equipment. Traditional welding processing technology is difficult to meet the standard of new button battery welding in contrast, laser welding technology can meet the diversity of button battery processing technology. Such as dissimilar materials (stainless steel, aluminum, copper, nickel, etc.) welding, irregular welding trajectory, more detailed welding points and more accurate positioning welding area. It’s not only improved the consistency of product welding, but also reduced the welding process to cause harm to the battery. It is the best way to button the battery welding process now.


(2)  Vapor Chamber


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At present, after using 5G, the cell phone heat dissipation will increase. So many models, especially the game phone, will add a layer of liquid vapor chamber inside to help with heat dissipation. Cell phone vapor chamber itself is very small and thin, while the 5G base station’s vapor chamber is relatively larger and thicker. With developing of laser welding technology, the market prospects are also broader.


(3)  Fingerprint reader


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Laser welding - mobile phone / fingerprint reader tablet


(4)  Camera module


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Laser welding - mobile phone/laptop/tablet camera mount

*Source:UW Shenzhen


The precision laser welding machine used for welding camera modules can satisfy the laser welding process for camera frames or mounts. As the camera functions are constantly updated, the requirements for the processing process are getting higher. The traditional welding process cannot meet its precision demands. There are more welding joints, smaller distances, and more problems such as temperature sensitivity and spatter residue during welding. The advanced laser welding technology can meet exactly these requirements and produce almost no welding slag and debris.


(5)  IC chip cutting


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IC chip green light cutting

*SourceIPG



<Laster Cutting>


Common materials in 3C electronics include:


1.    Filter materials - microwave dielectric ceramics

2.    F/PCB key materials - high frequency substrates

3.    Aerial and antenna oscillator - LCP/MPI/tin/copper 

4.    Thermally conductive heat sinks - stainless steel/ pure copper

5.    3D glass and ceramic housings/composite backs

6.   Battery materials - stainless steel/composite


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Common materials in 3C applications


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Ceramic substrate PCB cutting


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QCW-600 aluminum and copper substrate PCB cutting


Among them, ultrafast lasers can cut a very large number of materials, such as stainless steel, carbon steel, copper, aluminum, magnesium alloy glass, etc. It can be used in cell phones, 3C electronic chips, FPC, etc. But the most outstanding process is still the drilling and cutting of glass, able to achieve no taper hole vertical cutting drilling.


Glass laser cutting is an easy control and less pollution less technology, which brings a lot of convenience to customers. At the same time, it can ensure neat edges, good verticality, and low internal damage under high-speed cutting, which is becoming a new solution for the glass cutting industry. Especially for high-precision cutting, picosecond ultrafast lasers show massive advantages due to their extremely narrow pulse width and take advantage of low heat diffusion to complete material interruption before heat transfer to the surrounding material, delivering remarkable results in brittle material cutting.


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Glass laser cutting

*Source:DOPSCH


Infrared picosecond laser using non-contact processing can avoid the traditional machine cutting method being prone to chipping, cracking, and other problems. It has the advantage of high precision, no micro-crack, broken or fragmentation problems, high edge rupture resistance, and no secondary manufacturing costs such as rinsing, grinding, polishing, etc., to reduce costs while significantly improving the workpiece yield and processing efficiency.


<Other Applications of Laser>


(1)  Coating removal


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Glass surface coating removal


UV laser can be achieved locally without damaging the substrate material coating removal. The above picture shows the UV used to remove the removal of glass surface ink, it does not damage the glass substrate, remove the coating after the glass translucency > 90%.


(2)  Permanent marking of metallic materials


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*Source: IPG


Permanent black marking is often required on metal surfaces for consumer electronics, medical devices, and household appliances. Picosecond pulsed lasers produce attractive, high-contrast dark markings on metal surfaces. Compared to the long pulse, the short pulse can produce darker markings and have a wider processing area. Two picosecond markings are permanent, nonfading, and more resistant to corrosion.


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