Case Studies

How Our Clients Use LMJ Systems

With its customized solutions, Synova helps companies to be one step ahead of the competition.

Take a look at the case studies below to get a detailed insight of customer applications in the following industries:
Energy and Aviation, Tool Manufacturing, Diamonds and Jewelry, Watchmaking, Medical, Semiconductors and Photovoltaics, Other Micro-Machining Applications

Energy and Aviation

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	LMJ was used to drill Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) shrouds - a gentle, precise, and high-volume processing for an exigent aero application.	Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC)	Drilling	Processing of CMC Shrouds
	LMJ was used to process aero-engine components. Drilling, milling and cutting of up to a few mm thickness is possible.	Ceramic Matrix Composite (CMC) Ni Superalloy	Drilling Milling Cutting	Processing of Aero-Engine Components
	LMJ was used to drill cooling holes in turbine blades in coated superalloy. Chipping or micro cracking of the coating can be avoided thanks to this gentle process.	Coated Superalloy	Drilling	Drilling of Turbine Blades
	High-speed drilling of shaped holes in blades and vanes with LMJ for industrial gas turbines without thermal stress and minimal recast resulting in a high quality surface finish.	Alloys	Drilling Shaping	High-Speed Drilling of Shaped Holes
	Drilling of industrial gas turnine blades by avoiding heat related problems and maintaining high productivity by the use of LMJ.	Alloys	Drilling Shaping	Drilling of Gas Turbine Blades

Tool Manufacturing

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	When cutting CBN blanks with LMJ the result exceeds the quality of dry laser cutting as heat damages and rough edges are avoided.	Polycrystalline Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN)	Cutting	Cutting of CBN Blanks without Heat Damage
	Fabricating top quality discs made of Binderless Polycrystalline Diamond with LMJ is less time- and tool-consuming than with conventional methods such as grinding.	Binderless Polycrystalline Diamond (BLPCD)	Cutting	Cutting of Binderless Polycrystalline Diamond
	When using LMJ to cut diamond tool inserts 99% of the diamond material can be removed at high speed before a final polishing step.	HPHT Diamond	Pre-Cutting	Pre-Cutting of Tool Inserts
	Cutting PCD and CBN tools without micro cracks, HAZ, or oxidation is possible with LMJ. The perfect verticality, narrow tolerances, low roughness, and sharp edges are convincing.	Tungsten Carbide Substrate	Finishing	Cutting PCD and CBN Tools
	LMJ's higher quality 3D machining of inserts and complex multi-tip tools enables new applications with better operating cost.	Tungsten Carbide	Cutting	Super Hard Tool Making

Diamonds and Jewelry

Cutting of Large Diamonds:

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	The Graff Lasedi La Rona is the largest highest color, highest clarity diamond ever certified by the GIA. Thanks to parallel cutting with LMJ the weight loss is minimal.	Natural Diamond	Cutting	The Graff Lasedi La Rona
	The 342-carat rough diamond has resulted in a set of 23 diamonds, the Garden of Kalahari. Highest precision could be achieved thanks to LMJ.	Natural Diamond	Cutting	The Queen of Kalahari
	The 813-carat Constellation Diamond is the most expensive rough diamond in the world. The resulting 313-carat ‘Constellation One’ is the largest D color emerald cut diamond ever.	Natural Diamond	Cutting	The Constellation
	This expensive and valuable diamond has been cut to perfection. LMJ ensures minimal weight loss thanks to parallel cutting.	Natural Diamond	Cutting	143.45 Carat Diamond

Cutting for Jewellery Industry:

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	To link the diamond with the other jewellery part, a hole-drilling process might be required. With Syonova's LMJ the drilled holes are fully straight, no V-shape, no chipping at the hole entry and exit.	Natural Diamond	Hole-Drilling	Hole Drilling for Jewellery
	The LMJ is advantageously for fancy bruting due the its perfect cut at the outline of the diamond to create the shape profile. Less post-processing is required.	Natural Diamond	Bruting	Fancy Bruting

Cutting of Lab Grown Diamonds:

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	The aim is to obtain a maximum number of slices from the CVD crystal. Cutting with a constant parallel kerf and without tapering with LMJ ensures a higher yield.	CVD Crystal	Slicing	Slicing of a CVD Crystal
	The goal is to get a maximum number of slices out of the HPHT crystal and to cut variable thicknesses ranging up to 12 mm.	HPHT Crystal	Slicing	Slicing of a HPHT Diamond
	Replacing the long-serving dry laser slicing process with LMJ improved yield, straightness, smoothness, cracks, and throughput in coring and slicing CVD crystals.	CVD Crystal	Coring Slicing	Coring and Slicing of a CVD Crystal
	The use of LMJ ensures a high quality coring and slicing process of CVD crystals and smooth surfaces as well as low roughness what requires minimal post treatments.	CVD Crystal	Coring Slicing	Coring for Graphite Removal
	The LMJ is used for cutting components with free froms of (almost) any geometry with high accuracy requirements (± 5 μm) from CVD crystals.	CVD Crystal	Coring Slicing 3D Form Cuts	Lab Grown Diamond Material for Industry
	The challenge was to slice large CVDcrystals of up to 25 mm from a single direction and along the largest thickness, with a high quality.	CVD Crystal	Coring Slicing	CVD Seed Slicing

Watchmaking

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	With very short warm-up and set-up times LMJ is a flexible and stable tool to cut watch components, no matter if it's for production or prototyping.	Gold	Cutting	Cutting of Watch Components for Luxury Watches
	The LMJ is used to cut oscillating monolithic parts with complex shapes without deformation or heat affected zone but with the capacity to cut very thin bridges.	Steel Copper	Cutting	Cutting of Oscillating Parts
	The LMJ is used to cut large series of up to 2mm thick decorative watch components for luxury watches.	Brass Steel Gold	Cutting Drilling	Cutting of Watch Dials and Markers
	The LMJ is used for micromachining of high-tech parts reaching top quality/tolerances and better return on investment.	Metal Ceramic	Cutting Drilling	Micro-Machining of High-Tech Parts

Medical

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	The silicon blades for the first single-use, safety engineered surgical knife designed for use in cutting corneal tissue were cut with Synova's LMJ.	Silicon	Cutting	Cutting of Silicon Blades
	LMJ was the perfect choice to receive a controlled/homogeneous roughness, narrow tolerances, no HAZ, and no reduction in strength cut cardiovasculaire stents.	Nitinol	Cutting	Cutting of Nitinol Stents

Semiconductors and Photovoltaics

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	The LMJ is used for gentle, precise, and fast processing for large inline production of power semiconductor devices. Low contamination of the workpiece is crucial.	Silicon	Cutting	Downsizing of Silicon Wafers
	The LMJ is used for hexagonal square or circular dies singulation for PressFIT Diodes and achieves a much better edge quality compared to grinding.	Silicon with gold coating	Cutting	Singulation of Silicon Wafers
	With LMJ, it was possible to establish a repeatabel, high-speed process for singulating substrates without damaging the adjacent circuitry.	Ceramic	Dicing	Dicing of Ceramic Circuits
	The LMJ is used for wafer dicing and device singulation. One of the advantages compared to a standard dicing saw is the elimination of the high operational costs for blades.	Advanced Materials such as GaN SiC Diamond	Dicing Singulation	Wafer Dicing
	Drilling of via holes in ceramic substrates of thin film circuits with LMJ eliminates the hole-cleaning step and reduces cost of ownership versus CO2 lasers.	Metal Deposition Photolithography	Drilling	Drilling of Holes in Ceramic Substrates
	LMJ is the perfect choice to cut silicon carbide which is a challenging material to cut because of its hardness and brittleness. In this case it is used for IGTB Power Chips.	Silicon Carbide	Edge Grinding Edge Trimming	Cutting of IGTB Power Chips
	LMJ is used to trim edges of CMOS image sensors and proves superiority over EDM by significantly higher quality.	Silicon	Edge Trimming Downsizig	Edge Trimming of CMOS Image Sensors
	Silicon frames are very brittle and request a gentle processing technology without any micro cracks and chipping. LMJ reaches high accuracy, straight walls, low roughness and is highly flexible.	Silicon	Cutting	Complementary Metal Oxide
	Thin wafers are challenging to manipulate and to process due to the high flexibility and fragility. With LMJ the perfect TAIKO ring removal becomes possible.	Silicon	Cutting	Taiko Ring Removal
	LMJ was chosen to dice these highly sensitive platinum-iridium detectors in the form of microchips because it has several advantages over blade sawing.	Platinum-Iridium	Dicing Single Die Cutting	Cutting of Platinum-Iridium
	MJ is used to downsize 450mm silicon semiconductor wafers to 300mm and 200mm wafers, without any impact on the material.	Silicon	Downsizing	Chamfer Cutting
	LED chips and packages are made of materials that are frequently difficult to cut mechanically. With LMJ one has high flexibility regarding materials and shapes.	Indium Gallium Nitride	Cutting	Cutting of LED Chips
	LMJ is used for micro-machining semiconductor reactor sub-assembly parts with tight tolerances on thick, hard materials in contact with reactive gas.	Silicon Silicon Carbide Ceramics Advanced Composites	Drilling

Other Micro-Machining Applications

Product	Challenge	Material	Process	Case Study
	LMJ is used for micro-machining of high-tech components for the watch, medtech, space and defense industry. It is the perfect tool for flexible, stable and heat damage-free processes.	Various	Micro-Machining	High-Tech Parts
	Synova's LMJ is used for prototyping, cutting and drilling of highly demanding shaver caps. It meets all requirements such as damage-free, vertical, and precise processing.	Stainless Steel	Prototyping Cutting Drilling	Shaver Caps
	LMJ is used for prototyping on CuBe as well as damage-free cutting and drilling. Compared to stamping LMJ has a higher flexibility for lower production volumes and no deburring is needed.	CuBe	Prototyping Cutting Drilling	CuBe
	LMJ is the flexible and stable tool for heat damage-free processing of high-tech components for the medtech and micro-machining industry.	Various	Prototyping Cutting Drilling	High-Tech Components
	The main challenge to cut platinum electrodes is to reach to the electrode which is welded more than 20mm deep in a cylinder. Processing with LMJ is much faster than with EDM.	Platinum	Cutting	Cutting of Platinum Electrodes
	LMJ is used to cut difficult-to-machine metal alloys for electrical components reaching high edge quality and accuracy.	Metal Alloys	Cutting	Cutting of Electrical Components
	LMJ is used to cut and drill thin nickel masks, so called shadow mask patterning. Nickel foils are challenging to cut/ablate due to the large size and low thickness.	Nickel Foils	Cutting Drilling	Shadow Mask Patterning
	Synova's LCS 800 was used for job shop of high precision parts. In this case, throughput and flexibility increased while quality remained the same as with etching and electroforming.	Metal	Cutting	Cutting of High-Precision Metal Parts