Last updated on March 18th, 2023 at 08:55 pm

Laser marking is the technique of permanently cutting a picture and pattern onto a hard substance, like plastic, glass, wood, and metal, utilizing laser light. The design is programmed into a computer, which handles the laser. The laser’s power is determined by the substance and the amount of heat. In past years, laser marking machines technology has grown in popularity in the manufacturing and printing industries.

It may also be used on various materials—rubber and plastic, for example, or steel and silicon processors. Chemical erosion, web printing, as well as oil ink printing are alternatives to conventional mechanical cutting. This is cheap, has excellent versatility, and could be managed by a computer network.

Simply put, laser marking is a process that marks or labels the surface of a work piece using a low-power laser beam. This technique is often used to apply barcodes, logos, QR codes and other types of identification on materials such as stainless steel or titanium.

What are the benefits of a Laser Marking Machine?

1. Permanency – Despite the other types of marking, they do not deteriorate when exposed to environmental conditions like acid, alkali, as well as gas. The climate also has an impact on the variations in laser marking effectiveness. Laser marking on protection seals is thus suitable for the chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries.
2. Anti-counterfeiting — Because of the innovation used in laser marking, the marks cannot be faked or altered, giving the best tamper-proof for any safety seal.
3. Laser marking technology has a wide range of applications, including the marking of metallic and nonmetallic substances like aluminium, copper, iron, wood, and plastic goods.
4. High processing productivity – Because laser power may be increased and decreased, it can adjust the marking intensity and guarantee the optimum capability for every material.
5. High cutting accuracy – The laser marker etched items have delicate and beautiful designs. As well as the smallest thread width may exceed 0.04mm, allowing for clear, long-lasting, and beautiful marking. This could meet the need for printing a large amount of data on a small plastic item. Two-dimensional code, for example, with more exact requirements and greater clarity.

Depending on the selected material and application, there are different laser marking methods that can help you achieve high-quality contrast marks on the surface of your workpieces. Here is a brief description of the different marking techniques and what each of them offers:

• Marking by annealing or “annealing”: Marking by annealing is a laser engraving process that can be used with metals and other materials. By applying heat from the laser beam, the surface of the material undergoes an oxidation process that alters the color to reveal the design.
• Laser Engraving: Perhaps the most widely used laser marking system, laser engraving, uses a laser beam to melt and evaporate the surface of the material. This creates the impression that the surface of the material has been etched.
• Staining: Similar to the annealing marking process, staining also works by causing a chemical reaction on the surface of the material when the laser beam is applied. The color tone depends on the selected material. For example, the staining of light plastic materials will produce a discoloration during the etching process that will create a dark marking effect.
• Removal: The removal process uses a laser beam to remove coatings applied to the substrate. Since the top layer is a different color than the actual material, this procedure leaves a contrasting mark on the surface of the part. This particular method is commonly used with materials such as anodized aluminum, or coated metals, sheets, and laminates.
• Charring: When you need to produce strong contrasts on shiny surfaces such as leather or wood, char marking is probably the most viable option. Through this process, the laser beam hits the surface to emit oxygen, hydrogen or a mixture of both. Charring creates dark marks with a higher concentration of carbon, producing subtle contrasts in darker materials.

Foaming or «foaming»: With the foaming process, the laser beam is used to melt a material and create gas bubbles that reflect light diffusely. This allows light markings to be made in the areas that the laser has processed, making it suitable for use with dark plastic materials.

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