Thomas Nether has been serving as Senior Vice President for LaserMicronics, Service Solutions of LPKF Laser & Electronics AG. He has been with LPKF systems for 25 years. He began his journey as a Product Manager, driving the technical development of LPKF tools.
Q. Can you tell us about Laser Micronics? How are you connected with LPKF?
Thomas: LaserMicronics is an official LPKF brand. As a specialized microprocessing service provider we offer the complete performance range of LPKF systems as contract manufacturing. Whether for PCB depaneling, stencil cutting, precision metal parts or plastic welding – our customers are as diverse as the possibilities offered by the original LPKF technologies. We support feasibility studies and low-volume manufacturing as well as mass production.
Q. What is Laser Microprocessing and what are its advantages?
Thomas: Laser tools have significant advantages in structuring and processing sensitive surfaces and substrates on the micro level. They allow highest precision while enabling design flexibility in a stress-free environment and deliver absolute clean cuts. Besides these advantages, laser microprocessing is also extremely fast. In our cleanroom facility we can even laserweld under the highest hygienic requirements.
Q. What Laser Microprocessing Services do you provide for the PCB Industry?
Thomas: We are able to drill, structure, depanel, cut and repair a huge variety of common PCB materials including multilayers. We even can handle ceramics.
Q. Can you tell us about your Laser Cutting Services? What is the alternative to laser cutting and what are its advantages? At what stage of the PCB fabrication process is this done?
Thomas: Mechanical cutting often comes to its limits when it is about very sensitive material or hygienic requirements. Often further processing is necessary, which includes chemical handling and therefore more manual work. Laser cutting ensures an ideal hole geometry achieved in a contact and dust-free environment completely automized. These modern Laser tools have their price, and this is where LaserMicronics comes into play. After a complex production process, our services start at the end of the production line. Our advantage with Laser Cutting from LPKF is that we handle the components with the necessary precision and care, so that customers can be sure that the quality of their products is protected at all times.
Q. Can you tell us about your Laser Drilling Services? Do customers ship you the boards for drilling? How do the logistics work?
Thomas: Our laser drilling services offer the highest quality of modern LPKF systems enabling design freedom, precision and cleanliness for PCB drilling with extremely low thermal stress.
The logistics couldn’t be more convenient for customers. We work with all common courier service providers, so depending on the quantity the shipping process is as easy as retail shipping – including express delivery.
Q. Can you tell us about your Repaid and Rework Expertise? How is laser technology used in this process?
Thomas: Process defects or design modifications can be very annoying and costly - especially for complex and expensive multilayer boards. With special UV Laser by LPKF we can repair these boards in excellent quality. Whether the ablation of solder resist, coverlay and pastes or the separation of traces, UV Laser by LPKF can perfectly handle all these challenges.
Q. When should a customer consider using Laser Micronics for cutting or repair?
Thomas: Whenever companies or R&D departments face challenges with in-house resources, we are there to support them from the beginning until the end of every project with our expertise, advice and tools.
Q. Do you work with prototype or production quantities? Can you tell us more about the stage at which customers use these services?
Thomas: In every stage of the customer's individual development, we have ideal offerings. It starts with small amounts like feasibility studies and prototypes from easy to complex, but LaserMicronics can support even during ramp-up phase or as your external manufacturer for mass production. We also ensure numerous customers during the production in downtime phases due to service breakdowns, construction or refurbishment.
Q. Can you tell us about your facility and equipment that you use?
Thomas: As LaserMicronics is part of LPKF we have access to the best available technologies and know-how in the field of laser processing. This combination of LPKF tools and expertise makes our facilities a center of excellence accessible to everyone that works with PCBs.
Q. Who are your customers and where are they located? Do you primarily work for companies based in Europe?
Thomas: Our customers are as diverse as the challenges and applications they are working on. Companies and R&D departments working with electronics and especially demanding PCBs microprocessing are located all over the world and so we offer our services to the global market.
Q. Can you tell us about how the company has grown over the last few years? What is your roadmap for the next three years?
Thomas: LaserMicronics is looking back on an extraordinary history. Since 1989 we have been offering our laser expertise already. We are present at two locations in Fürth and Garbsen with access to the best experts for LPKF tools. We continuously acquire new laser systems to grow with the market and stay on top of the demands of the industry.
About LaserMicronics
Under the LaserMicronics brand, LPKF provides expert contract manufacturing services in laser micromachining, offering solutions that range from small-batch production to full-scale series manufacturing. Utilizing state-of-the-art LPKF laser technology, specialized application engineers ensure the highest technical precision, exceptional product quality, and cost-effective production with minimal processing time.
LPKF’s comprehensive range of services includes Laser Depaneling, which enables burr-free cutting, intricate contouring, and the depaneling of assembled circuit boards with superior accuracy. Laser Cutting of Metal Parts allows for almost any contour or cutout with material thicknesses of up to 4 mm while maintaining excellent cutting-edge quality. ITO Laser Processing offers invisible structuring of transparent ITO coatings without damaging the substrate, enabling ultra-fine structures with trace and space widths below 50µm. Additionally, PCB Repair & Rework services include precise removal of solder resist and masking films, as well as selective material processing.
