As a result of economic and production-orientated advantages, laser sources have established in a wide range of manufacturing engineering in the last 30 years. In particular, due to the possibility of realising small focus diameters for material processing applications, the laser is one of the most important tools in micro technology. In this contribution, fundamental methods of laser micro processing are presented. In this context, well-established as well as nascent technologies are described. Concluding, a view on the market potential of laser-based manufacturing processes in micro technology is given.
