Experimental study on the processes of laser-enhanced electrochemical micromachining stainless steel

Laser-induced electrochemical machining (LIECM) is a compound process of assembling a laser beam with an electrolyte process. To further understand the behavior of LIECM, the experiments that stainless steels were etched by the process of LIECM with excimer laser in the solution of NaCl were carried out. The anode current curves were recorded and analyzed. Simultaneously, the etching of stainless steel by LIECM was carried out. Experiment results proved that the single-step method of transferring pattern without mask is feasible, but the etching rate is low. However, a jet for supplying electrolyte and a close distance between cathode and anode can greatly improve the etching rate.