Laser marking devices

       There are various laser wavelengths offered by laser making devices. The variation in wavelength enables them to be used for inscribing designs on different materials. You must have seen nameplates. The nameplates presses use pressure to create the design on the plate. They work manually and mechanically both. There are stylus marking devices in which the heads of stylus punch rapidly into the design. The hot stamping machines use hot die to apply a colored foil or an image with multiple colors.

Know more about Laser Engraving Machines and Laser Engraving

       When we use lasers to engrave or inscribe images on an object then we call it laser engraving. This is done with the help of computer because movement of laser head is very complex and requires good technical skills. The result of laser engravings is very high quality, clean, precise and closer to perfection. There are no tools involved that come in direct contact with the object being engraved so there is no wearing out of the tools. Therefore the efficiency and life of the laser engraving machine is longer and does not need any replacement of tools frequently. Now there are special material available which give better end results when engraved with laser. Polymers and novel metal alloys are some of such materials. Laser engraving machines are capable enough to do printing, laser bonding, hot bonding and other marking work that is usually done by other methods.

A laser, a controller and a surface are three components of a laser engraving machine. Laser is a thin beam that comes out from the controller and is used for designing patterns on the surface it is used. The intensity of laser beam, direction, movement, amount of light etc are all controlled by the controller which is usually a computer. The surface is generally selected in a manner that the laser can easily work on.

You can categorize engraving machines into 3 categories:

•  Where the surface is stationary and laser moves to engrave as per the design and pattern

Or where laser is stationary and the surface moves in X and Y axis.

2) Where the surface is cylindrical. Here the laser pulsing is used to get results.

3) Where laser and surface both do not move. There is a special type of mirror that moves the laser beam on the surface.

This last technique is used in vector or raster modes. Raster images are data structures which generally represent pixels of rectangular grids. Vector graphics use points, shapes, lines, and curves etc which are all in mathematical equations.

Use of Ytterbium Lasers for Laser Marking

       Laser marking has great use in identifying and tracing of parts. It can be used for wide range of materials like semiconductors, ceramics, non-metals, plastics etc. This is a fast way of marking numbers, letters, barcodes, bitmaps and logos and is very flexible. To get the results that one desires there can be different techniques that can be used for example engraving, soft marking and anneal marking. Anneal marking is done by heating a metal to high temperature and then cooling it slowly. This also is done to change some of the qualities of the metal for specific use.

Fiber lasers are very attractive for all kind laser marking work because the materials that are used are good absorbers at near infrared wavelengths. They are preferred because they need lesser maintenance than other equipments used for same purpose. The beam quality is very good and they are very compact. There are Q-switched and CW markers available that are capable to handle almost all of your marking requirements.

For all marking that needs to be done on metals there are CW single mode fiber lasers that can accommodate all your needs. They give you clean and fast output and are preferred where one needs shallow markings which do not intrude just like you see the anneal marking on steel or in removal of fine films on glass, coated metals or IC marking.

Q switched fiber lasers are able to provide high peak power and nanosecond pulses. The pulse energy can be as high as 2mJ and power can be 200 W. You would find their use in creating deep and permanent marking that you see in ceramic filters, markings on key boards of computers, auto parts, heavy duty gears etc. They can be used on the most reflective metals like gold or aluminum because of the high peak power.

Some of the examples of their application can be in designing jewelry, multicolor marking on titanium, IC marking, marking on medical related products, filters made of ceramics, removal of thin films on polymer and metal and many more.

Laser Marking with CO2 Lasers

CO2 lasers are a good choice for engraving industry. There are many advantages of the laser over the prevalent methods of marking or engraving. Some of the advantages are given below:

•  There is no contact with the surface while using lasers so there is hardly any scope of the damage of the surface due to the contact. They can be used not only for marking or engraving but also for traditional tasks like welding, etching and heat treatment. Use of CO2 lasers for glass can be a great tool because it is eco-friendly, fast, clean, flexible and can be programmed as per the requirement.

•  CO2 lasers give excellent results and also bring down the cost of operation and supply.

•  The laser system just needs proper exhausting and it keeps running perfectly and gives clean output. Here you save on the cleanup cost and disposal of products.

•  They can be used for uncountable applications.

CO2 lasers systems are used in glass industry and in various aspects of making of glass products like doors, windows, customer logos, permanent serial numbering etc. You can not only put them to use for all the convention things but can also be used for making some special promotional gifts that need special designing and perfect finish.