Femtosecond microfabrication of sapphire

Currently we are working on three different directions with regard to sapphire microfabrication by femtosecond laser pulses, all equally exciting, challenging and promising.

There is the eye-pleasing and exclusive volume marking, where because of exceptional precision of positioning and excellent laser characteristics we are able to achieve diffractive and non-diffractive volume markings (surface marking is also possible) of tightly controlled properties. They can be bright and colorful to barely noticeable to invisible to the naked eye and the potential range of applications for such a seemingly simple idea is extraordinarily vast. From protective markings for luxury goods to tracking markings for high-tech products to the exclusive and brilliant markings for the added exclusivity and shear beauty.

Sapphire is known in industry not only for it's optical properties but also for being one of the hardest substances you can come across, having a 9 out of 10 on the Mohs hardness scale (diamond is the hardest with 10 out of 10). This mechanical endurance, excellent thermal properties make sapphire attractive where the is a need for reduction of wear and friction, where the conditions for operation are extremely tough. These same great properties make sapphire extremely difficult to machine by conventional methods. However, employing ultrashort laser pulses enables one to cut, drill and shape sapphire without the unnecessary wear to the tool and without any unwanted damage to the sapphire and with outstanding precision. The flexibility and capability of femtosecond fabrication of sapphire is unsurpassed and all the various applications of this technology, as well as of sapphire in industry, are still to be realized.

The third direction we are taking is an effort to participate in the LED production market, where sapphire has been serving as an excellent (for lack of better ones) substrate for blue and UV LEDs. Our effort is directed at providing an industrially viable, efficient laser-based solutions to as many of the currently existing problems as possible, including epitaxial layer growth enhancement, wafer dicing, light extraction efficiency improvement.


We are open to share our knowledge with you having specific tasks of femtosecond laser micromachining.