Lasers for Marking and Micromachining
Lasers have become synonymous with materials processing over the past decades. With the invention of the CO2 laser in 1964, it was rapidly identified that lasers could reduce the complexity of many industrial processes.
The development of more efficient diode pumped solid state lasers (DPSSLs) further propelled lasers into the realm of materials processing. Todays kW fiber lasers are ubiquitous in industrial materials processing applications, ranging from the more traditional cutting, marking and welding techniques to the more recent annealing and micromaching techniques.
Laser micromachining
At the other end of the size spectrum, lasers have more recently been seen as an industrial tool for micro-cutting, marking and labelling on a sub-mm and sometimes nm scale. The excellent beam quality and high average powers mean that the beam can be focussed to a diffraction limited spot thus making the cut or mark only visible under a microscope.
Laser marking
The excellent beam quality of the Cobolt Tor lasers in general also makes them very well suited to marking, either small but also micro marks or patterns. Below is an example of the excellent clarity of marks on anodised alunimium which can be created with the Cobolt Tor 532 nm laser. See where the QR code takes you!
At HÜBNER Photonics our Cobolt Tor Series of Q-switched lasers offer repetition rates up to 7 kHz, along with single pulse triggerable up to 1 kHz and peak powers of the order of tens kW. They are available at 355 nm, 532 nm and 1064 nm for laser micromachining and marking applications.
Related products
Cobolt Tor™ Series
High performance Q-switched lasers
Wavelength: 355, 532 and 1064 nm
Pulse energy: 50 – 500 uJ/pulse (Single pulse – 7 kHz)
Applications: LIBS, Maldi-TOF, Micro-machining & Marking
