Water-jet Laser Cutting and Drilling Machine

Hortech collaborates with European manufacturers to introduce water-guided laser cutting systems that combine waterjet and laser technologies through a micro-jet nozzle. This hybrid process uses a hair-thin water jet to guide the laser beam via total internal reflection.

During processing, the water continuously cools the cutting zone while removing debris and particles, enabling true cold processing. Compared with conventional dry laser processing, water-guided laser technology minimizes thermal damage, deformation, oxidation, contamination, and microcracks.

By guiding the laser beam through the air-water interface, the system achieves high-precision cutting with smooth edges, high-aspect-ratio machining, and minimal heat-affected zones without complex focal distance control.

Traditional waterjet cutting is highly versatile and capable of processing metals, glass, stone, and other materials without thermal effects, while laser processing offers high-speed and highly automated manufacturing for precision applications. Water-guided laser technology combines the advantages of both methods, delivering clean, precise, and flexible processing for advanced manufacturing applications.

Compared with conventional laser systems, water-guided laser processing is especially suitable for heat-sensitive and high-reliability materials used in semiconductor, aerospace, advanced packaging, and precision industrial applications, where superior edge quality and minimal thermal impact are required.

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Water-guided laser technology provides gentle, non-destructive processing for a wide range of soft and hard materials, including metals and alloys, ceramics, composite materials, silicon carbide (SiC), diamond, and semiconductor materials. The system is capable of cutting thick materials, surface finishing for smoothness, and multi-angle machining for 3D structures with micron-level precision.

The images show various water-guided laser processing samples, including:

Cutting of thick copper blocks with an uncleaned cutting surface, thickness: 20 mm
Stainless steel cutting, thickness: 5 mm
Micro-drilling on stainless steel plates, thickness: 2 mm, hole diameter: 200 μm, showing both front and back surfaces
Vertical drilling on metal materials with hole diameters of 200–250 μm and material thickness of 2 mm, including entrance and exit holes
Aluminum alloy cutting on 12 mm-thick material with smooth and clean cutting surfaces
Drilling on Si₃N₄ ceramic material with thickness: 1 mm
Cylindrical drilling on 6000-series aluminum alloy with 300 μm hole diameter and 6 mm drilling depth
Vertical drilling on AlN ceramic substrates without thermal effects, substrate thickness: 0.37 mm, hole diameters including 300 μm, 500 μm, and 1 mm
Vertical drilling on silicon nitride (SiN), thickness: 0.9 mm, hole diameters including 200 μm, 300 μm, and 500 μm
Dense micro-drilling on copper foil with thickness: 30 μm, featuring highly vertical holes without thermal effects, with customizable hole diameters
Dense micro-drilling on 316 stainless steel with thickness: 50 μm, featuring highly vertical holes without thermal effects, with customizable hole diameters
Cutting of SiC wafers with no thermal damage, smooth edges, and burr-free cutting quality. Wafer thickness: 0.43 mm, cutting kerf < 100 μm

Product Features:

Non-deforming processing for hard and brittle materials
Suitable for thermal management materials such as AlSiC aluminum silicon carbide composites for cutting, thinning, and precision shaping

Hortech collaborates with European manufacturers to introduce water-guided laser CNC machine systems. Compared with conventional milling and turning machines, the system offers broader material processing capabilities and enables secondary processing of recycled or reclaimed materials, improving resource efficiency and supporting sustainable manufacturing.

Key features of the system include:

Long focal depth for high-quality high-aspect-ratio micro-cutting and deep drilling
Water cooling that immediately removes thermal effects and debris, achieving higher production yield
Higher processing quality than conventional CNC machining, enabling secondary processing of recycled materials to support energy-saving and carbon-reduction goals

The motion platform accuracy of the system is maintained within < ±3 μm and can also be customized according to customer requirements.