There are six main categories of processes used in the Photonics Cluster laser micromachining suite:

• Single Shot Drilling: drilling through with a single pulse, rare in micromachining.
• Percussion Drilling: drilling through with a series of pulses.
• Trepan drilling: drilling using a series of pulses and moving either the beam or component in a circular path.
• Cutting: Cutting through using a series of pulses and moving either the component or beam.
• Etching/milling: removing material to a defined depth by controlling the pulse energy and number of pulses per location.
• Marking: changing the surface appearance either by material removal or colour change, e.g. by oxidisation.