On making precision glass cutting more precise

With its chemical inertness, light transmittance, and cost-efficient fabricability, glass remains a major component in manufacturing. But increasing numbers of products like foldable screens and flexible electronics require utmost precision, posing new challenges when it comes to precision glass cutting.

Laser-Induced Thermal Cleavage (LITC) has emerged as a promising technique that cuts glass without melting, using only controlled thermal stress. But when cutting asymmetric or complex patterns, LITC often causes microcrack propagation and deviation from the preset cutting trajectory.

Yang et al. used simulations and 3D modeling to examine the precision and low-damage challenges of LITC in glass cutting. They built a numerical model tailored to real cutting scenarios using a volumetric heat source model for 1064 nm lasers and a 3D transient model that dynamically simulated temperature and stress field changes during cutting.

The researchers systematically analyzed stress at the crack tip and actual propagation trajectories under three LITC strategies: side pre-crack heating (SPH), co-directional pre-crack heating (CPH), and reverse pre-crack heating (RPH).

“RPH performed best with the actual cutting trajectory showing the highest consistency with the ideal trajectory,” said author Xuye Lu. “There were no obvious microcracks on the glass edge after cutting.”

In contrast, the team found that SPH resulted in the most significant trajectory deviation, while CPH resulted in intermittent microcrack bands on the glass surface due to heat conduction lag.

“As consumer electronics and precision optics demand thinner, more complex-shaped glass, we think the RPH strategy can be further optimized with laser parameters, improving manufacturing efficiency and reducing scrap rates, and promoting it from a laboratory simulation to industrial mass production.”

Source: “Research on laser-induced asymmetric low-damage thermal cleavage cutting technology for glass,” by Ping Yang, Xuye Lu, Jisheng Pan, Xuejun Zheng, and Tianxin Luan, Journal of Laser Applications (2025). The article can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.2351/7.0001867 .