Abstract
In this paper, the laser cutting characteristics of the flexible PCB using high power Nd:YAG UV laser were investigated. A specific FPCB model was selected for the experiment. Test sheets were made, which had equal materials and layer structure to those of the outline (OL) region and the contact pad (CP) region in the FPCB. The experiment is made up of two stages. In the first stage of the experiment, the laser cutting fluence was found, which is the threshold fluence to cut the test sheets completely. The laser cutting fluence of the OL sheet is $1781.26{\sim}1970.16\;J/cm^2$ and that of the CP sheet is $2109.34{\sim}2134.34\;J/cm^2$. In the second stage, cutting performance and its qualities were analyzed by the experiment. The laser cutting performance remained almost unchanged for all laser and process parameter sets. The average cutting width (top side/bottom side) of the OL sheet was $40.45\;{\mu}m/11.52\;{\mu}m$ and that of the CP sheet was $22.14\;{\mu}m/10.93\;{\mu}m$. However, the laser cutting qualities were different according to the parameters. The adjacent region of the cutting line on the OL sheet was carbonized as the beam speed was low and the overlap coefficient was high. The surface quality around the cutting line of the CP sheet was about the same. Carbonization and debris occurred on the surface of the cutting line. As a result of the experiment, the cutting qualities were better as the overlap coefficient was made low and beam speed high. Therefore, the overlap coefficient 2 or 3 is proper for the FPCB laser cutting.
