Pulsed UV lasers are pretty much the norm for depaneling now-a-days. With
high pulse rates the materials is ablated so you do not get the
charring/burning like you would with the CO2 lasers. Also there have been
studies about the delta T increases which are less than 100C.

These lasers can cut flex, rigid and metals.

The most often-cited reasons we depanel w/lasers include:

Tight mechanical tolerance of the PCB
Sensitive components near board edges
Components near the board edges that cannot withstand mechanical stresses
Unusual board shapes (IoT)

The speeds are in the range from 100 to 1000mm/sec.

Bob/BEST Inc

On Tue, Sep 20, 2016 at 9:22 AM, Stadem, Richard D. <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> There are other issues with laser depaneling. One is that you may have to
> increase the minimum copper spacing to more than the standard .050" from
> the edges, as the laser can carbonize the FR-4, and especially the
> polyimide substrates. This can provide a low current leakage path. For high
> power applications this can increase over time and lead to catastrophic
> failure.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of David Hillman
> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2016 3:13 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [TN] Routing
>
> Hi John - I have seen very successful laser de-paneling but there was a
> limitation on board thickness. The boards needed to be more on the thin
> side (0.030") than the thick side (0.100"). Plus the type of laminate
> played a big role in success or failure of the process.
>
> Dave Hillman
> Rockwell Collins
> [log in to unmask]
>
> On Mon, Sep 19, 2016 at 1:36 PM, John Burke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Hi guys,
> >
> > Discussion came up on removal of routing dust particularly under BGA's
> > what is best practice?
> >
> > Also does anyone have experience of laser de-paneling ??
> >
> > Best regards,
> >
> > John Burke
> >
>



-- 
Bob Wettermann
BEST Inc
[log in to unmask]
Cell: 847-767-5745