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FONON TECHNOLOGY LASER APPLICATIONS	Friday, July 28, 2006

Applications

Laser marking is the most flexible type of direct part marking available today! The ability to change various laser parameters offers users the ultimate in control, quality and speed versus competitive marking technologies.

C3Lasers’ Fiber Laser Marking Systems utilize the latest advancements in laser-based material processing.  They also offer significant advantages over solid state Nd: YAG lasers and it has the ability to mark a wide variety of materials using different techniques.

C3Lasers’ Fiber Laser or CO2 OEM industrial marking and cutting systems are used in a wide variety of applications, worldwide!  An incredible amount of varying work is done on nearly as large an assortment of materials.

This newsletter is an attempt to demonstrate on a monthly basis, as many of these applications as possible, for your reference.

If you would like to see a particular application showcased in this newsletter, please let us know at .

If you would like to have your application showcased in a newsletter, please let us know at .

APPLICATIONS SNAPSHOTS

APPLICATION ONE: MATERIAL: VARIOUS STEEL METHOD: FINE ABLATION

The three different steel parts were all marked using a fine ablation method with a 20 watt q-switched ytterbium fiber laser. The parameters that we used varied slightly from part to part. The text used was a bold Arial font, with the exception of the smallest screw head. The parts were marked with a very light etch to produce the best contrast. The small 0.370” diameter screw head had a cycle time of 0.497 seconds. The larger 0.78” diameter screw head had a cycle time of 1.89 seconds and the black coated 0.960 diameter washer had a cycle time of 2.53 seconds.

APPLICATION TWO: MATERIAL: PAINTED PLASTIC METHOD: PAINT REMOVAL

The paint was removed from the painted plastic parts using a 20 watt Fiber Laser Marking System. Two passes were used to mark these samples. The first pass removed the clear coat and some of the paint, while the second pass removed any paint residue that may have remained. The total cycle time for the mark was 5.05 seconds. Several different laser parameters were tested and were able to completely remove the paint. If residue had remained due to the power used, light will still show through the marks. If too much power is used to remove the paint eh plastic will become discolored or charred, so care must be taken. If less power were to be used, the paint would not be completely removed, however, the residue can still be scraped off to remove it from the mark if needed.

APPLICATION THREE: MATERIAL: ANODIZED ALUMINUM METHOD: SURFACE MARKING

These anodized aluminum key chains were surfaced marked with a 10 - watt q-switched ytterbium fiber laser. All samples tested marked extremely well. The cycle time for marking the words Laser Photonics was 2.75 seconds per keychain. The parts were marked using only 60% power. A 160 mm focal length lens was used, creating a marking field of 4 inches in length.