Picosecond laser machining of deep holes in silicon infiltrated silicon carbide ceramics

Silicon infiltrated silicon carbide (Si-SiC) ceramics, as high hardness materials, are difficult to machine, especially drilling micro-holes. In this study, the interaction of picosecond laser pulses (1 ps at 1 030 nm) with Si-SiC ceramics was investigated. Variations of the diameter and depth of circular holes with the growth of the laser energy density were obtained. The results indicate that the increase of machining depth follows a nonlinear relation with the increasing of laser energy density, while the diameter has little change with that. Moreover, it is found that some debris and particles are deposited around and inside the holes and waviness is in the entrance and at walls of the holes after laser processing.