Fiber Laser Marking Machine

 What is a Fiber Laser Engraver

A fiber laser is a laser in which the active gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth elements such as erbium, ytterbium, neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, thulium and holmium. They are related to doped fiber amplifiers, which provide light amplification without lasing. Fiber nonlinearities, such as stimulated Raman scattering or four-wave mixing can also provide gain and thus serve as gain media for a fiber laser[1].

Fiber Laser Engravers mainly composed of three parts: laser, vibrating mirror & lens and marking control card.These laser machine has good beam quality,a wavelength of 1064nm and up to 100,000 hours lifespan.

Compared with other types of laser marking machine,It is more higher electro-optical conversion efficiency and lower power consumption and  widely used for marking metal and other material.

How does Fiber Laser Engraver Work

Fiber laser marking is one way of utilizing lasers beam to engrave  permanent marks on the surface of material.

Or Fiber Laser Engravers utilize low to medium powered laser beam to heat the surface material and cause oxidation, and the affected areas of the material will expose deeper material.This type of marking without indenting the surface of the material, essentially “carving” by chemical and physical changes.

The Advantages of Fiber Laser Engraver

There are a lot of advantages to selecting fiber laser marking machine beyond high reliability and efficiency of these equipment.

Other advantages of fiber laser machines include:

• High quality beam
• Maintenance-free design
• Very flexibility application(MOPA)
• Air-cooling with high resistance bad operation condition
• Very efficient operation with low power consumption
• Long life (up to 100,000 hours)
• Easy to usage
• Small body size, compact design

Types of Fiber Laser Marker

At present,there are main two types:Q-switched technology & MOPA technology used in the pulsed Fiber Laser Engraver,Q-switched Fiber Laser Engraver have been used more earlier, so they currently poss larger share in the market. However, MOPA Fiber Laser Engraver as a new type of technology, what is the difference between Q-switched lasers and MOPA lasers? What are the Pros and Cons of them?

The difference between them is differ in pulse width and frequency.

Q-Switched

Q-Switched is a non-invasive laser that creates high-intensity pulsed beam light. The Q-Switched laser beam pulses last a mere billionth of a second. The energy emitted from a Q-switched laser is concentrated into very powerful pulses.It is most commonly used as fibre laser source, Compare to MOPA laser,they are not as efficient nor as wide range of pulse modulations.

MOPA

MOPA is an abbreviation for Master Oscillator Power Amplifier. The “MO” produces a highly coherent beam, and an optical “A” is used to boost the output power of the beam. The “MO”  don’t need to be powerful nor high efficiency operate.Since the efficiency is determined mainly by the “PA”. The combination of several laser amplifiers seeded by a common “MO” is essential concept of the High Power Laser Energy Research Facility. Compared with Q-switched fiber laser source, Mopa laser’s pulse adjustable available,so a MOPA laser is much more flexible,which can fit more special materials,such as: stainless steel, anodised aluminium, plastic etc.

Pros

•  Pulse duration is variable
• Pulse frequency adjustable
• High flexibility
• Versatile application

Cons

• Higher price than Q-Switch

What is Application of Fiber Laser Engraver

Fiber laser markers are known for their markings with high efficiency and high quality.There are many materials they can mark,such as:

Material

• Silver
• Aluminum
• Gold
• Bronze
• Tungsten
• Platinum
• Leathers
• Plastics etc

Application

Fiber Laser Engraver is widely used in integrated circuit chips, computer accessories, industrial bearings, watches, electronic and communication products, aerospace devices, various auto parts, home appliances, hardware tools, molds, wires and cables, food packaging, jewelry, tobacco, and military affairs, etc graphics and text marking and mass production line operations.

Among the above especially suitable for marking machine parts, item numbers,manufacturing locations, or product numbers,brand information etc.

Although fiber marking is widely used for a variety of industries,above mention there are two different fiber technology hence the a little differ in processing material and effect.here are some comparison of applications:

• Metal deep marking

Q-Switched:Rough shading

MOPA:Fine shading

• Transparent paint plastic buttons

Q-Switched:Not easy to clean up

MOPA:Easy to clean up, high efficiency

• Electronics, semiconductor, ITO precision finishing

Q-Switched:Very big Pulse width,Very strong energy

MOPA: pulse width  adjustable to make laser light spot more fine,energy adjustable and more even

• Stainless steel black marking

Q-Switched:Easy deformation & rough shading

MOPA:NO deformation & fine shading

• PC/ABS etc. Plastics

Q-Switched:Marking edge yellow and rough
MOPA:Without yellow color, smooth

• Aluminium oxide thin sheet surface removal

Q-Switched:Easy deformation & rough shading

MOPA:NO deformation & fine shading

• Anodized Aluminium black marking

Q-Switched:None

MOPA:different shades of black color can be done by setting up different parameters.

Some Factors Before Buying a Fiber Laser

You should consider some basic elements before purchase a Fiber Laser Engraver.

In this purchasing guide section, we will introduce some factors you should consider when you will purchase a fiber laser marking to fit your marking requirement. 

Type of Fiber Laser

Above mention,there are two different type of fiber laser,which is suitable for different application,choosing a fiber laser marking machine mainly depends on marking which type of material and accuracy that you require.

Working Area

Another is important to know how large is the perform area that determine what is the output power of laser source we can utilize. The fiber laser head perform like a magnifying glass, and the closer the work-piece is, the more diffuse its the focus point of laser beam.

On the contrary, if the fiber laser head is far away, the beam is scattered, and it also fails to mark clearly and powerfully hence some fiber laser marker’s working area are not more than 100×100 mm, because laser head requires a focus distance between lens and work-piece.

Output power of Fiber Laser

The output power of laser is measured in Watts. The more watts the more powerful the laser is. The power of the laser is important parameter for fiber laser marking machine,which will affect your purchasing cost and the marking clarity of some material.

Marking clarity

Selecting a fiber laser marking machine, Marking clarity is an important detail,However,It common deepens on two factors,one is the output power of fiber laser, another is the marking area of the lens.

For instance: When the output power of fiber laser are the same,a 50W output power of fiber laser commonly comes with a 300×300 mm lens,It can clearly mark an ideal working area of 200 mmx200 mm. However, this device can also come with a 50×50 mm lens, what will happen that? The result is that brings less clear marking area,so you should consider two factors.

Pulse resolution

The resolution of fiber laser marking depends on two factors, one is frequency,another is the Max resolution of machine. The higher the frequency, the much better the resolution and accuracy, the marking quality will be smother and better.

Brand of Fiber Laser

There are so many brands of fiber laser source option in the market from different laser source manufacturer.Each brand has its own advantages and disadvantages hence there is no standard rule,How to choose it depends on your requirement.

For Jewelry marking or engraving industry,you might choose IPG brand if you enough budget.However,In terms of low and medium output power,Chinese brand might more advantages,which are also enough quality to perform better for different materials.

How to Maintain Fiber Laser Marker

Cut off the power supply of machine when not operation.

Cover lens to prevent dust from affecting the optical lens when not operation.

Avoid maintenance when it is on.

Immediately cut off the power supply of machine when any failure.

When the device is used for a long time, the dust may attach on the surface of the focused lens,which will affect marking quality,Moreover,it may cause the optical lens burst due to absorb heat and overheat.

You should clean the surface of the focused lens when it is used for a long time.

Cleaning method:

Mix absolute ethanol and ether with a ratio of 3:1, use a fiber cotton swab or lens paper to gently scrub the surface of the focused lens.

Avoid to move machine during operation.

Avoid cover or place items on the machine,It will affect the heat dissipation of the machine.