Dec. 02, 2024
Laser marking is the process of marking parts or workpieces using laser technology. A laser beam hits the material, and its energy creates a reaction that leaves a permanent mark. The speed, power, and focus of the laser beam on the part will lead to different laser processes. You can mark using laser engraving, laser etching, laser annealing, or laser ablation.
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Choosing the right laser technology and configuration is key to successfully mark your parts. To determine what you need, you must first define your application requirements. This includes information like:
Keep reading to learn how these requirements will help determine the laser system, power, and process you need for laser marking.
Wavelengths emitted by most industrial laser systems can&#;t be seen by the naked eye, so they&#;re hard to imagine. Yet, different materials react differently to different wavelengths.
Each material has a unique composition that absorbs certain wavelengths and not others. Since lasers produce a single wavelength, they&#;re highly specialized tools for marking very specific materials. Different materials thus have different laser requirements.
Depending on your material, you&#;ll either need a fiber laser system or a CO2 laser system.
The various types of lasers emit different wavelengths based on their gain medium&#;a component of the laser source. The material you&#;ll be marking will dictate which type of laser marking system you need.
Fiber laser systems are sometimes considered to be solid-state lasers. They have a laser source that includes an optical fiber that contains a rare-earth metal like ytterbium. They produce laser light on a wavelength of approximately 1 micrometer ( nm). Most metals react well with fiber laser marking.
Gas-state laser systems have a laser source that includes gas. The most widely known gas lasers are CO2 lasers. These laser marking systems can produce laser light on wavelengths that range from 9 micrometers to 10.6 micrometers (9,000&#;10,600 nm). Most organic compounds react well with these wavelengths. But as opposed to fiber laser systems, metals react poorly with these wavelengths.
Tell us about your application
Your application will dictate which laser marking process you need. For example, you may need to create highly resistant marks that cannot be erased. Or, you may need to fit the marking process within a specific cycle time.
To choose a laser process, you must understand your needs and your production process.
Laser engraving engraves marks deep in the material by disintegrating part of the material into dust. For example, laser engraving machines can be used for VIN marking, which typically requires deep markings that ensure durability and prevent falsification. They can also be used for marks that need to be resistant to aggressive post treatments like shotblasting.
Laser etching is usually used when the laser marking process must be as fast as possible to integrate a production line. This technology melts the material surface nearly instantly, creating high and low bumps on the surface of the material. This creates, for example, high-contrast black and white marks.
Laser annealing causes a chemical change under the material surface. Nothing is disintegrated, nothing is displaced, and nothing melts. It&#;s one of the only solutions for marking stainless steel, whose surface must remain unaffected by the mark. Laser annealing is also used for esthetic applications like logos. Although slower than other laser marking processes, it creates the most beautiful surface finish.
Laser ablation creates a mark by removing from the surface something other than the material (typically paint). Part of the paint can be removed to mark an identifier like a barcode. Laser ablation is the same thing as laser cleaning. The only difference is the application: the goal is to mark, not clean. In certain cases, laser ablation is the fastest laser marking solution. For example, removing paint is faster than marking steel.
Click your material to find out which laser processes you can use:
If you increase laser power, you can achieve a higher energy density. Since different laser marking technologies need different energy densities, more laser power may be needed for certain applications. For example, laser engraving is the marking technology that requires the highest energy density.
But the higher the power, the higher the cost. Fortunately, if increasing laser power is key in increasing a laser beam&#;s energy density, it&#;s not the only way.
Laser beams can either be pulsed or continuous. Continuous-wave lasers emit laser beams at a continuous rate. Pulsed lasers emit laser beams at a set repetition rate.
When a laser beam is pulsed, it can achieve higher peaks of energy for the same laser power. This is like hitting a nail with a hammer. The faster you hit it, the less power you have for each blow.
Pulsed laser systems can thus be used for marking applications that demand a higher power density than continuous-wave laser systems. They can also perform tasks at a higher speed.
Laser engraving systems manufactured by Laserax either emit pulsed or continuous laser beams. Since metals demand a higher energy density than organic materials, laser beams are pulsed for fiber laser systems and continuous for CO2 systems.
Watch the following video to see a fiber laser marking machine in action.
More and more manufacturing industries are choosing lasers as their marking solution. And there are good reasons for it.
With laser marking, you get to mark directly and permanently on the part. And unlike other marking methods, the marking process can be performed at the beginning of the production line.
Even if the marking is performed before treatments like shotblasting and e-coating, you keep high-quality marks throughout the part&#;s entire lifetime. You don&#;t need to worry about preserving the quality of data matrix codes, barcodes, or alphanumeric serial numbers.
Further reading:JCZ are exported all over the world and different industries with quality first. Our belief is to provide our customers with more and better high value-added products. Let's create a better future together.
Having no consumables simplifies the marking operation, and it contributes to improving health and safety in the workplace by replacing technologies that use chemicals or ink. Getting rid of consumables is also cost effective since you reduce yearly operation costs.
Laser marking machines and systems have no moving parts, which means that their components are less likely to break. Laser machines thus require less maintenance and are less wasteful than the machines they replace. Their laser source is highly reliable, having a mean time before failure of 100,000 hours, which can represent over 10 years of operation depending on the daily use.
Tell us about your application
Put simply, laser marking uses a beam of concentrated light to alter a surface permanently. Laser marking has a variety of applications, all stemming from either pulsed, continuous wave, fiber, green, or UV laser machines.
It is a highly efficient process that can be automated to leave permanent marks on several types of materials, from steel to copper to glass to wood to paper. In addition, lasers can be used to write machine-readable data, like barcodes or QR codes. Keep reading for a better understanding of how laser marking machines work.
Laser marking is a simple process: a focused beam of light marks the surface of a material. Different marking machines can have varying effects on the material&#;s surface, but they will all alter the material&#;s properties and appearance. The concentrated light beam only targets specified areas and makes it possible to create exact, high-contrast marks.
This makes laser marking perfect for applications where machines need to be able to read information easily. It also provides a permanent mark, so you will never need to repeat the process.
&#;Laser&#; is an acronym for &#;Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation.&#; You have a laser when an atom is stimulated to release light particles. That energy is measured in nanometers (NM) or wavelengths&#;a higher wavelength means a more powerful beam.
A UV laser marker has a wavelength of approximately 355NM, making it a low-powered laser. This option is also perfect for marking heat-sensitive materials like glass or plastic. Lasers around this nanometer level are known as &#;cold lasers&#; since they produce far less heat than options with higher nanometers.
The lower temperature is ideal for working with soft or organic products since there is a small chance of the material burning. On the other end of the spectrum, you have the fiber laser. At NM, a fiber laser would be too strong for plastic or glass and instead marks metal effectively.
Unfortunately, the wavelengths that laser marking systems emit don&#;t look like the movies. There are no thick, colorful beams when you fire up your laser; in fact, most industrial laser systems don&#;t even emit visible wavelengths. What&#;s important to understand, however, is that all materials fall somewhere on the absorption spectrum.
What does that mean? It goes back to what we were talking about before with UV and fiber lasers. While a material like steel would react in the way you want to a fiber laser, a UV laser would have no effect. Your material&#;s absorption spectrum is the most important factor in choosing what system you require.
As we mentioned, fiber lasers are ideal for strong materials, like metals. With a wavelength of approximately a micrometer, most metals react well to a fiber laser. On the other hand, gas-state lasers are ideal for use with organic materials. The most ubiquitous gas-state lasers are CO2 lasers&#;while organic materials react well to them, metals do not.
How you want to use your laser will also play a role in the system you need. Your ultimate goal may be to fit the marking process into a particular timeframe, or you may not care about that as much as millimeter-precise results.
Laser engraving is probably the process you think of when you picture laser systems. It literally engraves deep marks into your material by disintegrating part of the surface. Many vehicles require laser engraving to add the VIN&#;this process is durable and difficult to falsify, making it perfect for such a critical task.
Engraving is also the go-to process if you&#;re planning on subjecting the material to any aggressive post-treatments, such as shotblasting.
Laser etching is the preferred process if you need high-contrast marks at high-speed. The laser melts some of the surface material to produce high and low bumps. This process is ideal for etching black and white marks into surfaces.
Laser annealing is among the most complicated laser process, as it is non-destructive. Instead of melting or disintegrating the surface, annealing instead causes a chemical change just under the surface of your material. Some products need to maintain their structural integrity, and annealing makes that possible. While it is a slower process, it also produces the best surface finish of all the processes.
Laser ablation is typically used to remove paint from the surface of a material rather than the material itself. This allows the user to add a barcode or other identifier quickly without needing the power to etch metal.
Lasers can either have a pulsed or continuous beam&#;they work exactly how it sounds. When a beam is pulsed, it has higher peaks of energy, but with the same laser power as a continuous beam. If you have an application requiring higher power density, a pulsed beam is the way to go.
There&#;s no one-size-fits-all answer to how laser marking machines work. The &#;how to&#; is entirely dependent on the system you have. On top of varying by system, the process will also change depending on the material you&#;re using and the application you&#;re using it for. If you purchased your laser marking system from Tri-Star Technologies, feel free to contact us for assistance.
Regardless of the system you&#;re using, be sure to follow all the safety guidelines outlined in the manual. Luckily, a variety of preventative measures like safety enclosures make laser marking a relatively safe process.
There are several benefits to using laser marking for a variety of industries, including:
All our laser markers are non-destructive devices&#;no melting or disintegration. This is perfect for any industries that require precision, as we&#;ve worked with medical facilities, automobile manufacturers, and aerospace applications.
Now that you understand how laser marking machines work, let us help you indelibly and non-destructively mark your products with our systems.
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