ABSTRACT
S Williams Drilling was one of the first production applications of a laser where it was used for the drilling of gemstones for wire dies [1] and watch jewels [2]. Since then many more applications of laser drilling have been developed and are in widespread use. Examples are drilling of vias in printed circuit boards, cooling holes in aircraft engine blades and combustors, cigarette filter paper, inkjet nozzles, fuel injector nozzles, aerosol nozzles and scribing of materials such as ceramics or ferrites. The laser is usually selected over competing processes (e.g. mechanical, electro-discharge, electron beam, chemical milling) due to its capability for drilling small holes (<1 mm) at high speed with good quality in most materials.
