On July 13, 2018, the German manufacturer of high-tech equipment Manz Group announced that its laser glass cutting technology has officially entered the medical industry. The Manz Group's DLC 820 laser cutting system was developed specifically for the automated production of ultra-thin microscope glass. Based on Manz's M-Cut laser cutting process, the technology has proven its value in the production of smartphones and tablets, especially for the protection of processed materials and process cleaning.
At present, the fully automatic laser cutting system DLC 820 is a high-end configuration model of the freely configurable laser cutting system in Manz's new DLC series. The M-Cut laser cutting process used is suitable for high precision and purity in medical technology. M-Cut stands for modified cutting: by cutting a line of only 2 microns width, the ultrashort pulse picosecond laser makes a slight structural change (similar to perforation) to the processed glass substrate. Microscope slides and coverslips can then be mechanically separated in a variable geometry. The DLC 820 can be fully automated 24/7 and can be adjusted to new cutting geometries without the need for a mold. The cutting speed is as high as 1.8 meters per second compared to the speed of 0.4 meters per second in the conventional mechanical cutting process.
DLC 820 means a higher quality standard. By using the M-Cut process, the quality is significantly higher than conventional mechanical cutting using diamond wheels. Conventional mechanical solutions can cause chipping and affect the fracture resistance of the glass substrate. Compared to other laser cutting processes, such as glass melting or evaporation, the M-Cut process offers a greater advantage: edge roughness is less than 0.5 microns; M-Cut also prevents microcracks or slight discoloration caused by high laser temperatures .
Microscope slides, lenses and displays: M-Cut laser cutting process has no restrictions on the geometry of the workpiece
Microscope slides and coverslips for medical research and clinical applications are usually cut using the green laser pointer mechanical method, which is very diverse. Dozens of different glass thicknesses (6-60 microns) are required around the world and are used in the medical and pharmaceutical industries for billions of pieces. “With the DLC 820 laser cutting system, manufacturers can greatly increase productivity, not only because their production is four times higher than mechanical cutting,” says Anders Pennekendorf, product manager at Manz's DLC laser cutting system. “In addition, our system does not. Complex setup times are required, and all processes can be configured separately using software."
In addition to microscope slides, the entire DLC product line can also be used in display glass made of chemically tempered glass, as well as biochips with sensors for automated high frequency analysis in molecular biology.
The technical focus of the group's green laser pointer cutting system:
· Glass substrate processing size reaches 1.5 × 1.5 meters
· Laser cutting speed of 1.8 meters per second, 4 times faster than mechanical cutting process
· Because the roughness of the cutting edge is less than 0.5 microns, there is no need to re-polish the edges
· Very low chipping, high fracture resistance of microscope slides
· Fully automatic, no mold required, can be configured via software: manufacturers can quickly change small batch specifications without stopping production settings
· Can be shaped
· Easily integrate online measurement technology—automatic calibration during the process, always maintaining high quality and high output.