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 |
Specification advice
Three items decide most of the cost and lead time on this work:
- 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.
What the process holds
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 polishing, ultrasonic machining, sandblasting, dicing in our shop – most real parts combine two or three of these steps.
Who orders this
The recurring buyers of drilling borofloat 33 wafers: led packaging (groove covers, phosphor carriers, package windows); mems devices (cap wafers, TGV substrates, motion-sensor lids); optical sensors (sensor windows, filter caps, lens covers). 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.
Engineers scoping this work usually also review wafer dicing process, 4 inch Borofloat wafers, JGS1 quartz glass.
Common questions
What equipment runs the drilling work?
Diamond core drills, ultrasonic assist and laser percussion heads.
Is there a minimum order for drilling borofloat 33 wafers?
No. Single prototypes are accepted, and pricing steps down at 10, 100 and 1,000 pieces.
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.
Specifications on this page were last reviewed by our engineering team in September 2026.