Articles

header 115

As fast as laser, as precise as EDM

LMJ guides a laser beam within a hair-thin water jet enabling a long working length. While it remains a thermal technology, the coupling with the water jet enables better local cooling and cleaning. Synova is the pioneer in exploring and commercialising this cool technology.

By Jun Wang and Gerrit Ter Hoek

Laser MicroJet® (LMJ) is a hybrid technology that guides a laser beam within a hair-thin water jet enabling a long working length. While it remains a thermal technology, the coupling with the water jet enables better local cooling and cleaning. Swiss company Synova is the pioneer in exploring and commercialising this cool technology. In the Netherlands, Ter Hoek is a service provider exploiting this technology, next to its main expertise in EDM technology, for the high-tech manufacturing industry across Europe and beyond. 

In the manufacturing industry, laser technology has been applied in various processes including welding, cutting, drilling, grooving, surface treatment, and ablation deposition. Laser cutting is among them the most widely applied. Compared with mechanical cutting, laser cutting is a contact-free process, which can make smaller and cleaner cuts, with less material contamination, physical damage, and waste. As there is in principle no tool wear, laser cutting is highly reproducible and requires less intervention. 

Read the entire article