Precession Elephant III

The PRECESSION ELEPHANT III (PE III) is the perfect solution for micromachining applications where success is measured by precise, consistent results and throughput speeds that improve productivity. The PE III is designed for 24/7 high-precision laser drilling, cutting and micromachining applications. PE III offers maximum flexibility for the drilling of innovative borehole-and edge geometries of differing conicity, taper angles and shapes, and allow the production of perfectly round, elliptical and custom-shaped micro holes. The PE III is available for green and infrared wavelength ranges. Novanta ASC/InScript® controller and operating software package is recommended for optimal programming and control for PE III.

High-precision drilling and cutting
Designed for high-precision drilling of customized borehole shapes and taper angles with the highest reproducibility. Also ideal for advanced cutting applications with precise edge angle control. Typical process parameters include:

• Material thickness: 0.02 – 1.5 mm
• Hole processing time: 0.5 s
• Hole diameters: 25 – 700 µm
• Negative taper full angle: > 16 °
• Hole aspect ratio: > 12:1
• Diameter repeatability: < 0.25 % variation
• Hole diameter accuracy: < 0.2 µm
• Hole circularity: > 95 %
• Hole position accuracy: < 1 µm
• Wall surface quality: Ra < 0.1 µm

Precession scanning
Our precession scan heads allow not only the positioning of a laser beam, but also the setting of  the incidence angle of the beam at each point of the workpiece,. For a drilling process, the incidence angle is also called the precession angle. When drilling a borehole with high precision, the inclination of the internal hole surface, the so-called taper angle, can only be produced in a reliable and reproducible way if a precession scan head is used. The production of defined edge angles in laser cutting or laser micromachining also requires the use of precession heads.

Process gas nozzle
Using an inert process gas such as nitrogen is ideal for ultrafast laser drilling and cutting metals such as stainless steel, aluminum, ceramics, and other brittle materials. The inert process gas is used to remove debris and by-products. The PRECESSION ELEPHANT includes a specially designed nozzle to direct the gas flow to the processing surface/area to achieve cleaner results with a rapid throughput rate. Processing gas also helps keep the drilling optics clean.

Tailored engineering capabilities
Through our highly specialized expertise and resources we can provide tailored solutions for your application needs.  With a large selection of different laser sources, scan heads and handling systems to choose from, we can develop laser processes that are perfectly tailored to a wide variety of customer-specific products, components and materials.