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Laser Cutting Silicon Wafers for NIST to Advance Solar Industry Standard
Potomac’s Photonics expertise in laser micromachining fragile materials helps NIST test new solar cells to ensure the solar energy industry’s manufacturing standards. Solar energy is the fastest growing source of energy in the United States and the total install base…
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Laser Micromachining Polymer Stencils Help Generate Stem Cell Lines at Stanford’s Cardiovascular Institute
In the Pharmaceutical industry more and more drugs never make it out of the lab to reach the patients that need treatment. Costs are not only high to the companies that have placed big R&D bets to develop novel drugs,…
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Advanced Manufacturing Job Opportunities Through “Middle-Skill” STEM Education
In recent years there’s been a lot of talk about STEM education. STEM comprises Science – Technology – Engineering – Math and sometimes is called STEAM when Art is added into the mix in order to include the design component. …
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2015: The Year in Review for Potomac
2015 has yet again proven to be a great year at Potomac! We continually strive to be on the cutting edge [pun intended!] of digital fabrication by utilizing the latest tools for laser micromachining, 3D printing, CNC machining, laser marking…
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When to Choose Laser Micromachining Part 4: Tolerance and Accuracy
Laser micromachining at very small spatial scales demands special attention to precision. Anyone who has ever tried to assemble DIY furniture where holes were slightly off from part to part knows the frustration part variation can cause even for simple…
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Happy Thanksgiving from Potomac Photonics
The horrors in the news that come to us from around the globe each day challenge us to remember the many things for which the USA is thankful. We do not live in a perfect place but Americans strive to…
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When to Choose Laser Micromachining Part 3: Creating Holes, Cuts and Features with Smooth Surfaces
At Potomac innovation is not just another buzzword. Everyone, from our engineers to the operators on the shop floor, is continually looking for new ways to push the limits of standard laser micromachining technology. Almost perfectly smooth parts have been…
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When to Choose Laser Micromachining Part 2: Pushing the Limits of Small
When we need to make very small holes, cuts, lines and features laser micromachining is usually the best choice in our digital fabrication toolbox. Lasers that emit light in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum are especially useful in biotech…
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When to Choose Laser Micromachining Part 1: Material Absorption of Laser Wavelength
All material processing starts, of course, with the material. Laser micromachining is a good option for manufacturing parts since materials absorb light resulting in a physical transformation of the material’s structure. Whether it’s a thermal process as with infrared lasers…
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When to Choose Laser Micromachining Series
At Potomac we like to say that despite the mainstream media hype, 3D Printing is not yet the Star Trek replicator. The same is true for all the technologies we use to make products for our customers. From prototype to…
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3D Printing, the Orioles, and Making Wishes Come True
In recent years Potomac has added 3D Printing to our Digital Fabrication toolkit, integrating the additive manufacturing process with laser micromachining, micro CNC machining and other technologies to solve complex manufacturing problems. We’re pushing the envelope of 3D printing limitations…
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Potomac Collaboration with Fab Lab at the Community College of Baltimore County Proves to Be A Win-Win Public-Private Partnership
How we helped Fab Lab Baltimore and in the process gained valuable workforce development. Potomac’s move to the UMBC campus has reaped a number of benefits for Potomac, one of which was most unexpected. The new facility is located about…
