With the explosive demand for AI servers and high-speed communication devices, an invisible revolution surrounding PCB drilling technology is quietly unfolding.In the manufacturing process of high-layer PCBs, drilling is the core link for inter-layer interconnection, and the accuracy of hole positioning directly affects signal transmission reliability and yield. Currently, the number of layers in high-end PCBs has increased to over 12 layers, and the substrate materials are continuously upgraded. Traditional tungsten carbide drill bits have exposed serious shortcomings when processing M9-grade high-end copper-clad laminates.M9-grade PCB materials contain high-hardness quartz fabric (Q fabric), with a thickness typically reaching 5-6 mm. Traditional tungsten carbide coated bits can only drill 200 holes before needing replacement, and the frequent tool changes significantly reduce production efficiency.The emergence of diamond drill bits technically brings breakthrough possibilities, with a lifespan of 10,000 to 20,000 holes per bit, over 50 times that of traditional drill bits, becoming a key consumable to break through PCB process bottlenecks.
01 Technical Challenges: How M9 Materials Disrupt the PCB Drilling Industry
M9-grade high-end copper-clad laminates, due to their inclusion of quartz fabric, ceramics, and other ultra-high hardness fillers, impose extremely stringent requirements on drilling tools. This high-hardness material causes rapid wear of traditional drill bits, and in the processing of thick M9 boards, traditional drill bits not only have a short lifespan but also carry the risk of breakage.The efficiency of the PCB drilling process directly affects the capacity of the entire production line. Each tool change takes 30 seconds, and the total time for changing tools on a single board can reach 5-6 hours. Frequent downtime for tool changes not only leads to inefficiency but also the risk of breakage can result in the entire board being scrapped, causing significant losses.For high-end applications such as NVIDIA GPU accelerator cards and switch backplanes, the number of holes in their PCBs can reach 100,000 to 200,000, with the cost of using traditional drill bits for a single board being about 12,000 yuan, while diamond drill bits can control the actual cost to about 50,000 yuan (which can be reduced to half through regrinding and reuse).Industry tests indicate that traditional drill bits can hardly meet the processing requirements for thick M9 boards, making diamond drill bits an inevitable choice. Leading PCB manufacturers such as Shenzhen Circuit and Huidian Co., Ltd. have initiated verification of diamond drill bits, focusing on evaluating hole roughness, straightness, and stability of continuous drilling.
02 Technical Path: The Route Debate Between Coating and Substrate
A common confusion in market discussions is that there are actually two distinctly different technical paths for diamond drill bits: diamond-coated drill bits and diamond substrate drill bits. Diamond-coated drill bits use a highly tough hard alloy (tungsten steel) as the substrate, and through processes such as CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), a few microns thick diamond film is coated on the surface. This type of drill bit balances the toughness of the substrate with the wear resistance of the coating and is a relatively mature high-end technology.Industry leader Dingtai High-Tech has a deep layout in this field, and its CVD diamond-coated drill bits have achieved large-scale sales, widely used in IC substrates, high-end server PCBs, and other scenarios. Diamond substrate drill bits typically refer to drill bits where polycrystalline diamond (PCD) is the main cutting part. PCD is a composite material made by sintering countless diamond micropowders under high temperature and pressure, with overall hardness close to that of diamond and toughness superior to that of single crystal diamond.However, the inherent brittleness of PCD is dramatically amplified in micro-drills with diameters less than 0.1 mm, making them prone to chipping; at the same time, their manufacturing costs are extremely high, with a single PCD micro-drill costing hundreds of times that of ordinary drill bits.What World claims is this type of technology, which is currently in the research and testing phase. It is a cutting-edge exploration, but there is still a long way to go before commercialization maturity.
03 Market Landscape: Intensifying Competition Among Suppliers
Currently, only a few domestic companies have achieved mass production of diamond drill bits, and leading manufacturers are building barriers through material formulations and nano-coating technologies. World, as the fastest progressing company, has conducted testing and verification with Shenzhen Circuit for 3-4 months. After optimizing the formulation, its diamond drill bits have achieved a drilling lifespan of 10,000 holes per bit and are preparing to enter other major PCB manufacturers such as Huidian Co., Ltd. and Shenyin Technology for verification.World’s PCD drill bits have been sent to major PCB manufacturers such as Shenzhen Circuit and Huidian Co., Ltd. for testing, with product lifespan improved by 20% compared to imported competitors. Sifangda focuses on CVD diamond-coated drill bits, and its uniform coating technology can reduce hole deviation errors, suitable for the micro-hole processing needs of IC substrates. Sifangda has formed a professional team and is planning to enter the PCB diamond drill bit field, currently negotiating to conduct verification with Shenzhen Circuit and Huidian Co., Ltd. Traditional drill bit manufacturers such as Dingtai High-Tech and Jinzhuo are currently promoting coated drill bits, but their performance in M9 material testing is poor, failing to solve the breakage problem. These companies lack the ability to synthesize diamonds and can only purchase diamonds for research and development, without breaking through key technical barriers.
04 Production Capacity and Cost: Bottlenecks for Large-Scale Application
The production of diamond drill bits faces extremely high equipment barriers. Laser grinding equipment needs to be imported from Switzerland, with a single unit costing up to 6 million yuan, and production capacity is limited—each unit can only produce 50-58 bits per day.In addition to equipment limitations, key process barriers also include welding and grinding polishing technologies. Diamond drill bits need to weld polycrystalline diamond at the tip of 1mm-1.5mm, with formulation and toughness design being the core challenges.In terms of price, diamond drill bits currently sell for about 1,500-2,000 yuan each, while traditional drill bits cost only 5-6 yuan each. However, considering the lifespan, diamond drill bits can drill 10,000 to 15,000 holes, while traditional drill bits can only drill 200 holes on M9 materials.Cost calculations show that for a thick M9 material board with 200,000 holes, traditional drill bits would require 1,000 bits (4 yuan each), costing about 4,000 yuan; diamond drill bits would require 20 bits (1,000 yuan each), costing about 20,000 yuan.However, considering that diamond drill bits can be recycled and reused, the actual cost is about 10,000 yuan. Although still higher than traditional drill bits, it avoids the risk of PCB board scrapping due to breakage.
05 Future Outlook: 2026 May Become the Year of Industrialization
The industry expects that the mass application of diamond drill bits will coincide with the ramp-up of M9 materials in 2026. Specifically, orthogonal backplanes are expected to begin large-scale production in Q3-Q4 of 2026.With the scale effects brought by mass production, the cost of diamond drill bits is expected to decrease. The current high prices are mainly due to the lack of mass production; in the future, through formulation optimization and scaling, the unit price is expected to drop to 1,200-1,500 yuan each.In terms of market space, the cost of drill bits for a single cabinet PCB is about 50,000 yuan, accounting for 7% of the PCB manufacturing cost (calculated based on 120,000 yuan per square meter of board material). With the explosive demand from downstream sectors such as AI servers and high-speed communication devices, the market size for diamond drill bits is expected to expand from currently less than 1 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan by 2026.For processing materials of different hardness, the industry may develop layered solutions: for M9-grade thick boards (≥4 mm), it may require drilling in three stages, with the first bit using tungsten carbide drill bits (shallow holes, no breakage risk), and the second and third bits using diamond drill bits (deep holes, avoiding breakage).If diamond drill bits are successfully validated on M9 materials, this technology may also be introduced for M8-grade thick boards, further expanding their application scenarios.In the coming years, as mass production is realized, the price of diamond drill bits is expected to drop from the current 1,500-2,000 yuan each to 1,200-1,500 yuan each. The market size is expected to expand from less than 1 billion yuan to 3 billion yuan by 2026, indicating significant growth potential.
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World: A leader, has tested with Shenzhen Circuit for 3-4 months, achieving a lifespan of 10,000 holes per bit, and will next enter Huidian and Shenyin Technology.
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Sifangda: Just starting, currently in talks with Huidian, with technical accumulation close to World but requiring time for verification.
The outcome of this technological revolution will determine the strategic landscape of high-end manufacturing in the PCB industry in the future. For traditional leaders like Dingtai High-Tech, it is a question of rebirth or being disrupted; for emerging companies like World, it is about seizing the opportunity or losing everything, all depending on the speed and stability of technological breakthroughs.
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【Disclaimer】All content in this article does not constitute any investment advice. This article is merely personal notes and opinions, without any guiding role, and does not represent the views of the author’s institution. Any actions taken based on this are at your own risk.