Laser beams turn simple plastic parts into sophisticated electronics components: this idea earned LPKF Laser & Electronics AG the prestigious Hermes Award.
 
The idea is impressive: add PCB tracks to existing plastic parts and they take on additional electronic functions. For realising this idea and developing it to series capacity, LPKF was recognized with the Hermes Award at the opening ceremony of the Hannover Messe 2010, awarded by a top-class panel of judges from the press, politics and business.

LPKF relies on a special process to turn simple injection molding components into sophisticated electronics components. A special additive is added to the plastic. The subsequent laser process activates this additive, producing a micro-rough surface. Finally, copper, nickel or gold are added during electro-plating.

Structuring three-dimensional components alone is already a very challenging task. LPKF developed a new type of laser system called Fusion3D, which handles this job with four simultaneous lasers. This eliminates the time previously required for rotating the component, the machining speed is increased by a five-fold, and all this with improved precision.

The nomination was based on a package including the method and the laser system. With good reason, since in addition to the innovative content the commercial prominence is also an assessment criterion. The new systems, available since the summer of 2009, allowed the production capacity in its current main application field of cell phone antennas to be increased from 20 million in 2009 to 100 million for 2010. LPKF is also seeing increasing demand in other fields such as the automotive industry, medical technology and electrical engineering.

Dr. Ingo Bretthauer, chief executive of LPKF is excited, especially for the employees: “This type of award shows the company and the people behind it our ten years of development have paid off.”