Picosecond laser fabrication of micro cutting tool geometries on polycrystalline diamond composites using a high-numerical aperture micro scanning system

The generation of microsized components found in LEDs, watches, molds as well as other types of micromechanics and microelectronics require a corresponding micro cutting tool in order to be manufactured, typically by milling or turning. Micro cutting tools are made of cemented tungsten carbide and are conventionally fabricated either by electrical discharge machining (EDM) or by grinding. An alternative method is proposed through a laser-based solution operating in the picosecond pulse duration whereby the beam is deflected using a modified galvanometer-driven micro scanning system exhibiting a high numerical aperture. A micro cutting tool material which cannot be easily processed using conventional methods is investigated, which is a fine grain polycrystalline diamond composite (PCD). The generation of various micro cutting tool relevant geometries, such as chip breakers and cutting edges, are demonstrated. The generated geometries are subsequently evaluated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and quality is measured in terms of surface roughness and cutting edge sharpness. Additionally, two processing strategies in which the laser beam processes tangentially and orthogonally are compared in terms of quality.