Drilling Borofloat 33 Wafers – Borofloat 33 (CTE 3.25 x 10^-6 /K, 350 nm – 2.0 um); Drilling to +/-0.02 mm hole position. No minimum order; DFM review included with every RFQ.
drilling borofloat 33 wafers is a materials problem before it is a machining problem. Borofloat 33 has float-glass flatness off the line and a Knoop hardness of 480 kg/mm2, so the drilling recipe – feeds, coolant, tooling – differs from what works on ordinary float glass. The line runs diamond core drills, ultrasonic assist and laser percussion heads and holds +/-0.02 mm hole position.
Key parameters
| Material | Borofloat 33 (SCHOTT float production, wafer grade) |
|---|---|
| Thermal expansion (CTE) | 3.25 x 10^-6 /K |
| Service temperature | 450 C continuous |
| Transmission range | 350 nm – 2.0 um |
| Density | 2.23 g/cm3 |
| Knoop hardness | 480 kg/mm2 |
| Refractive index | 1.471 @ 587 nm |
| Stock thickness | 0.70 – 25.4 mm |
| Maximum blank size | 500 x 500 mm |
| Process | Drilling |
| Working tolerance | +/-0.02 mm hole position |
| Minimum feature | 0.15 mm laser / 0.5 mm mechanical |
| Surface finish | exit-chip controlled below 0.1 mm |
| Thickness window | 0.1 – 30 mm |
| Edge condition | optional chamfered hole entry |
| Wafer formats | 2", 3", 4", 6", 8" and 12" with SEMI flats or notch |
| TTV | under 3 – 5 um by format |
| RFQ inputs | PDF/DXF/STEP drawing, quantity brackets, surface and edge spec |
Getting the drawing right
The shop-floor rules that matter here:
- Material note: float tin side must be tracked when parts see coating or bonding steps.
- Process boundary: hole-to-edge distance should stay above 1.5x thickness to protect strength.
- Over-specification is the quiet budget killer: a 20/10 scratch-dig face costs roughly three times an 80/50 face, so grade each surface individually.
For the complete framework, see the tolerance design guide and the holes and edges design guide.
Process window
Drilling earns its place through through-holes, blind holes and countersinks at densities beyond 1,000 holes per part. Its boundary condition – hole-to-edge distance should stay above 1.5x thickness to protect strength – is the first thing our DFM review checks.
Beyond this page, Borofloat 33 routinely runs through etching, double-side polishing, laser cutting, polishing in our shop – most real parts combine two or three of these steps.
Where these parts end up
Orders for drilling borofloat 33 wafers cluster in machine vision (camera windows, ring-light diffusers, calibration plates); optical sensors (sensor windows, filter caps, lens covers); mems devices (cap wafers, TGV substrates, motion-sensor lids). Background reading on the underlying material science: SCHOTT BOROFLOAT product page.
The fastest route to a quote is geometry: use the 3D builder below, draw a dimensioned 2D drawing from it, or open the site-wide custom glass machining 3D + 2D builder for fully custom parts.
Related reading on this site: Borofloat 33 selection guide, 4 inch Borofloat wafers, holes and edges design guide.
Common questions
How fast can prototypes ship?
Machined prototypes ship in 5 – 10 working days. Coated or bonded parts add 1 – 2 weeks depending on queue slots.
What files do you need for a quote?
A dimensioned PDF plus DXF or STEP geometry. If only a sketch exists, our drawing review service formalizes it before quoting.
Do parts ship with inspection data?
Dimensional reports, surface certificates and material certs per melt are available; specify the level on the RFQ.
What tolerances are achievable on Borofloat 33 parts?
Ground features hold +/-0.01 mm and lapped thickness reaches +/-0.003 mm. Float tin side must be tracked when parts see coating or bonding steps.
Specifications on this page were last reviewed by our engineering team in October 2026.