Laser marking is becoming increasingly important to the manufacture of a wide range of products because of its many benefits: high speed, high quality, easy set up, and the ability to quickly switch from one job to another. Laser marking also reduces fixturing costs and eliminates the need for consumables. This explains why the use of lasers has exploded in marking and other industrial applications such as welding, cutting, scribing, engraving and drilling.
The Samurai 355 UV enables a broader spectrum of materials
to be marked and significantly reduces production costs.
The latest trend in laser marking is the movement toward the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum. There are significant benefits compared to systems operating in the infrared and visible spectrum. Chief among these is the reduced power required to achieve the desired marking characteristics. This means more materials are now suitable for laser marking, so the potential market opportunity is significantly expanded.
UV Creates a Larger Opportunity for Laser Marking
DPSS Lasers Inc. of Santa Clara, California is capitalizing on the growing trend toward UV d “cold” marking technology with the recent introduction of its Samurai 355 marking system. The design employs field-proven 355nm UV laser source and the new high-performance Lightning™ Digital Scanner platform from General Scanning to maximize marking speed and character resolution.In so called “cold” marking, ultraviolet lasers remove material through photoablation, or they can change a material’s color by a photochemical process. Material removal is accomplished by breaking interatomic bonds rather than burning off material. The photoablation process leaves clean edges and has little or no effect on material properties or the appearance of surrounding material. Likewise, UV can be utilized to mark materials through a photochemical process by color change. Again, there is no damage to the material. Thus, UV lasers can mark materials that would otherwise be damaged by longer wavelength lasers.
Another advantage is smaller spot size, typically less than 10 microns. This makes it possible to produce smaller, less obtrusive marks, or marks with higher resolution. It also enables the marking of smaller parts.
The Samurai 355 can process many materials including wire insulation, metals, sapphire, glass, diamond, polyamides, PC boards, coatings, silicon wafers, ceramics, plastics, fiber, paper, and more. Available spot sizes range from 25µm in standard configurations to 6µm for custom designs.
Lightning Digital Scanner Technology is Central to Samurai 355
Marking System Success
 Lightning Digital Scanners are based on forth generation MPower galvo motors, second generation digital
servo electronics and the exclusive TuneMaster
servo optimization toolset.
“We are a leading producer of DPSS, 355 nm, UV lasers, but this is the first integrated system we’ve introduced,” remarked Alex Laymon, President of DPSS Lasers Inc. “One of the most important decisions in designing the Samurai 355 marking system was selecting an optical scanner. After the UV laser, the optical scanner is the most critical component of a marking system. We looked at a number of suppliers and selected General Scanning because of its new Lightning Digital Scanner platform. ”
“As an immediate benefit, our selection of Lightning Digital Scanners helped us achieve the fastest performance in our class, and that was a critical design objective.” According to Dr. Jouni Partanen, VP Research & Development, “The 16-bit digital signal processor technology delivers 50% higher bandwidth than analog drivers and is substantially faster than typical digital servo drivers.” The galvo mirror, mount and motor are designed, tested and inertially balanced as a working unit. This enables response times of only 10 to 20 microseconds to move to the correct position with a resolution of microradians. That equates to accuracy on the order of millionths of a rotation.
Dr.Partanen further stated, “Currently we receive pre-tuned XY galvo motor sets, but down the road, additional benefits will be realized using the TuneMaster software toolset. TuneMaster will simplify tuning to a customer’s marking application by automating the development process.
This is normally a time-consuming manual task where the x and y axes are optimized by trial
and error. These motors are then matched to each other using the same iterative procedure. Tunemaster will change that by giving us the tools to automatically optimize tune recipes while running a customer’s application. By changing various servo parameters, we can view the results immediately. If the corners of a character are too round, we tweak a parameter to make them square.”
Dr. Partanen added, “As a system moves through production and is ready for final optimization, a technician simply downloads the appropriate tune from the TuneMaster database, clicks a button and then the software matches both scanner axes automatically, optimizing their performance for the selected application, while ensuring unit-to-unit consistency”
Still more value can be attained when a system is in the field. According to Dr. Partanen, “Let’s say a customer notices a change in system performance due to normal wear of the scanner set. The servo loop tune can be re-optimized to original performance levels at the touch of a button. What’s more, if a galvo motor or mirror needs to be replaced, we can use TuneMaster to re-optimize the system with a single click of a mouse.”
Laser Marking Applications Growing Rapidly
Manufacturers are increasingly marking their products rather than using traditional labeling or printing strategies. Marking provides traceability at the individual part level, which in turn, can help track quality issues. In the event that a problem occurs, customers can be more easily identified and notified. In addition, marking helps prevent counterfeiting and unauthorized distribution. Manufacturers of medical devices, implants and many components used in the defense industry are required by government regulation to mark their products. Indications are that the scope of such regulation will expand in the future.
“As the first marking system designed only for 355nm operation, the Samurai 355 greatly expands the range of materials that can be laser marked. Best of all, the new Samurai 355 is approximately half the cost of traditional infrared laser marking systems,” Mr. Laymon added. “Lightning was an essential part of the system design and we believe its performance will enhance customer acceptance as these digital scanners enable the Samurai 355 to operate at drawing speeds up to 2 meters per second.”
Mr. Laymon summarized, “As we look toward the future of laser marking, we see great opportunities for our Samurai 355, and we consider our partnership with General Scanning and its advanced Lightning Digital Scanner technology as essential to our continued success.”
To Learn more about the DPSS Samurai 355 UV Marking System,
and DPSS Lasers, Inc., CLICK HERE.
Click here for printer-friendly version in .pdf format.
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