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The advent of sealed CO2 lasers has significantly increased industrial laser applications during the last 5 years. The main advantages of this type of laser are the compact footprint, robust all-metal construction, no maintenance and low operating costs. The applications of sealed CO2 lasers in the microelectronics industry can be broadly classified into four major categories: ceramic processing for thick/thin films, printed circuit boards and flex circuit board drilling and routing, solder mask cutting for SMT and microwelding for the packaging industry. This paper summarizes potential applications for sealed CO2 lasers in the microelectronics industry. Detailed process capability with speeds and thicknesses is presented and comparisons are made to other laser and conventional fabrication techniques.