very small holes in .300MM tungstem 1

[vono]

I need to put several small holes in a piece of .300mm thick X 1.5mm dia tungsten. The holes need to be arranged in a succession of sizes from .005mm - .020mm dia. I have tried laser cutting but the edges are very rough and I need these to be a perfect circle. All of my EDM vendors say that they cant go that thick with a .005mm hole and still be precise.
What other methods are available?

 

[CoryPad]

Maybe some kind of lithography with chemical milling? Try Photofabrication:

http://www.photofabrication.com/

 

[Ceramicguy]

What type of laser did you use? A high peak power femtosecond laser or excimer will give you cleaner holes than conventional CO2 or YAG laser. Another option, although expensive, is electron beam drilling.

Bruce

http://www.accuratus.com

 

[IRstuff]

How was this done previously?

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[vono]

Yes it was an excimer laser, but the edges were not perfect. I am looking into the photofabrication. This may be the way to go , only thing is that they can not work on tungsten or platinum, only molybdenum and this is an x-ray aperture so it will need to be substantially thicker. thanks all

 

[unclesyd]

I would contact the people at National Jet with your requirements.

http://www.najet.com/

One way to get round holes with a square edge is to make the best hole you can and then grind or grind and diamond lap the part. This works quite well as in a lot of holes the entrance is quit rough but the hole them gets very good at a shallow depth.

 

[btrueblood]

I'd check a few more shops, photo etch (chem etch is another term) process is certainly do-able for tungsten, we had parts made by that process ages ago, and they had no trouble. Sorry I can't tell you the vendor name, my recall ain't that good. As usual, syd's advice is quite germane to your problem, regardless of the first process used to cut the holes.