Laser Cutting Quartz Glass: Quartz Glass (CTE 0.59 x 10^-6 /K, 260 nm – 2.5 um); Laser Cutting to +/-0.02 mm contour. Single-piece prototypes to production volumes, quoted from your drawing.
laser cutting quartz glass is a materials problem before it is a machining problem. Quartz Glass has fused from natural quartz crystal and a Knoop hardness of 500 kg/mm2, so the laser cutting recipe – feeds, coolant, tooling – differs from what works on ordinary float glass. The line runs picosecond and CO2 laser stations with vision registration and holds +/-0.02 mm contour.
Key parameters
| Material | Quartz Glass (GE214-equivalent, semiconductor grade) |
|---|---|
| Thermal expansion (CTE) | 0.59 x 10^-6 /K |
| Service temperature | 1,050 C continuous |
| Transmission range | 260 nm – 2.5 um |
| Density | 2.20 g/cm3 |
| Knoop hardness | 500 kg/mm2 |
| Refractive index | 1.459 @ 587 nm |
| Stock thickness | 0.20 – 60 mm |
| Maximum blank size | 450 mm diameter |
| Process | Laser Cutting |
| Working tolerance | +/-0.02 mm contour |
| Minimum feature | 0.10 mm hole diameter |
| Surface finish | sealed edge, chip-free |
| Thickness window | 0.03 – 6 mm |
| Edge condition | filamentation edge, optional post-polish |
| RFQ inputs | PDF/DXF/STEP drawing, quantity brackets, surface and edge spec |
DFM notes from the shop floor
The shop-floor rules that matter here:
- Material note: natural-quartz batches vary in metallic ppm, so semiconductor lots need certs per melt.
- Process boundary: aspect ratio in a single pass tops out near 10:1; thicker sections shift to coring or ultrasonic work.
- 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.
The full rules live in our tolerance design guide and holes and edges design guide.
Capabilities and limits
The core strength of Laser Cutting is chip-free free-form contours and dense hole arrays in thin and ultra-thin glass. The honest limit: aspect ratio in a single pass tops out near 10:1; thicker sections shift to coring or ultrasonic work. Both belong on the drawing before quoting, not after.
One material, many routes: on Quartz Glass we also quote grinding, etching, lapping, drilling, and multi-step drawings are the norm rather than the exception.
Typical applications
laser cutting quartz glass shows up across semiconductor equipment (view ports, wafer carriers, plasma rings, chamber windows); laboratory instruments (cuvettes, sight glasses, stir-cell windows). Background reading on the underlying material science: ScienceDirect: quartz glass.
The fastest route to a quote is geometry: use the 3D configurator below, or the site-wide custom glass machining 3D builder for fully custom parts.
Related reading on this site: beam splitter glass, precision glass grinding, infrared windows.
Buyer questions, answered
What tolerances are achievable on Quartz Glass parts?
Ground features hold +/-0.01 mm and lapped thickness reaches +/-0.003 mm. Natural-quartz batches vary in metallic ppm, so semiconductor lots need certs per melt.
What thickness range do you stock for Quartz Glass?
Standard stock spans 0.20 – 60 mm, with blanks up to 450 mm diameter. Other formats are sourced per order.
How does Quartz Glass behave under heat?
CTE is 0.59 x 10^-6 /K and continuous service reaches 1,050 C continuous, which is what drives its use where fused from natural quartz crystal matters.
What accuracy does laser cutting hold?
+/-0.02 mm contour with minimum features of 0.10 mm hole diameter. Aspect ratio in a single pass tops out near 10:1; thicker sections shift to coring or ultrasonic work.
What equipment runs the laser cutting work?
Picosecond and CO2 laser stations with vision registration.
Specifications on this page were last reviewed by our engineering team in July 2026.