Lasers are ideally suited to metal marking because they can be easily automated, are non-contact, and utilize no consumables, making them more environmentally friendly than ink based marking. Lasers can be used for a diverse range of metal marking applications within the electronics, automotive, tools, aerospace and medical devices industries.
Fiber Lasers have the ability to produce marks of varying sizes and complexities from simple serial alphanumeric codes to more intricate vector or bitmap images. This application insight looks at marking metals with a Pulsed Fiber Laser and focuses on black anneal marking and anodized aluminium marking, and the benefits of Pulsed Fiber Lasers against other technologies.
Introduction
Traditionally metal marking has been carried out using machine marking; ink based printing and chemical etching. Lasers provide a new alternative to these traditional methods and offer several advantages. There are many types of Lasers that can be used for metal marking but Fiber Lasers, which are a more recent technology, are taking an increasing proportion of the market.
