Scientists drill 'smallest holes'

The equipment can make holes narrower than a human hair

Scientists at Cardiff University say they have developed machinery capable of drilling the world's smallest holes.

They have used the equipment to make holes in stainless steel that were "narrower than a human hair".

The technique could have "major benefits" for medical and electronic engineering, the university claimed.

The precision machinery was developed by the university's manufacturing engineering centre.

The holes made by the scientists are as small as 22 microns (0.022mm). A human hair is between 80 microns (0.08 mm) and 50 microns (0.05mm) in thickness.

Tubular hole

"The holes we are now drilling in Cardiff with the electro-discharge machining process could be the smallest in the world," said the centre's marketing director Frank Marsh.

The "drilling" is done with a minute electrode, which has a diameter of only 6 microns (0.006 mm).

Mr Marsh said: "You don't use a drill at all... The electrode is an electric discharge that wears away the metal, but it produces a very regular hole which is tubular - unlike lasers which have a large external entry point."

Mr Marsh said the ability to produce such tiny holes would benefit designers working in variety of areas - including medical and electronic engineering.

"The engineers are trying to shrink the mechanical aspect of their products to catch up with the electronics, which have already been shrunk," he added.

In the New Year, the centre's scientists will acquire new equipment which will enable them to make even smaller holes and add surface materials of tiny thicknesses to finish optical, medical and other components.