Will 3w 5w uv laser diode replace CO2 laser marking?

In the rapidly developing laser industry, the status of CO2 laser technology has gradually declined in recent years. Born in 1964, it can be said to be an "old" laser technology. In the decades-long history of laser applications, CO2 lasers have been the main force for a long time, whether in manufacturing, medical, or scientific research. However, with the advent of fiber lasers, the market for CO2 lasers is being eroded. In terms of metal cutting, the energy of fiber lasers has largely replaced CO2 lasers because of their better absorption by metals and their cost advantages. In terms of laser marking, CO2 laser has always been the most important marking method in the past, but in recent years, UV marking and fiber laser marking have become more and more favored by users. Especially the ultraviolet laser realizes "cold processing", the processing effect is fine, the positioning is accurate, the heat-affected area is small, and the pattern effect is more detailed and exquisite, and it begins to show the status of gradually replacing the CO2 laser marking. So, what are the advantages of UV laser marking and CO2 laser marking?

Advantages of CO2 Laser Marking

In the 1980s and 1990s, CO2 laser technology matured and became the mainstream of laser applications. CO2 laser marking became one of the commonly used laser marking forms due to its high efficiency and beam quality. It also works with a variety of non-metallic materials, including wood, acrylic, glass, textiles, plastics, foils and films, leather, and even stone. CO2 laser marking is mainly used for food, medicine or wine packaging, electronic components, integrated circuits, electrical appliances, mobile communications, building materials and PVC pipes, etc. CO2 laser is a gas laser. It uses the interaction of laser energy and materials to leave permanent traces on the surface of objects. It is a revolutionary alternative to traditional techniques such as inkjet, silk screen printing, and knife engraving. This technique can engrave beautiful designs, logos, dates or text on the surface of a product.

uv laser | green laser | Ultraviolet lasers | uv dpss laser | nanosecond laser | UV laser source | Solid State Lasers

Advantages of UV Laser Marking

Ultraviolet lasers are lasers with a wavelength of 355 nm. Due to its short wavelength and narrow pulse characteristics, it produces a very small focused spot and maintains a minimal heat-affected zone, which enables it to be processed very precisely while minimizing mechanical deformation of the material. It can not only provide extremely fine processing effect, but also maintain good positioning accuracy, which is the advantage of UV laser. CO2 laser marking is suitable for electronic products, white goods, electrical shell marking, food and medicine, leather, craft gifts, fabric cutting, rubber products, eyewear materials and so on. UV laser marking is mainly used for surface marking of packaging bottles of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, food and other polymer materials, flexible PCB board marking, scribing, silicon wafer micro-hole, blind-hole processing, LCD liquid crystal glass two-dimensional code Marking, surface drilling of glassware, etc.

UV vs CO2

In applications that require high precision, such as glass, chip, and various PCB board marking, UV lasers are obviously better than CO2 lasers. Especially in various PCB material applications, UV lasers are considered to be the best choice. From the perspective of market performance, UV lasers also seem to have suppressed CO2 lasers. A few years ago, the country's shipments of solid-state UV lasers were only about 3,000 units, but in 2017, the shipments of UV lasers soared to 10,000 units, and they also rose steadily with very good growth in the future. This proves that UV lasers are becoming more and more popular in the market, and also shows that people's increasing demand for fine processing.

However, this does not mean that CO2 lasers are useless. At least at present, the price of CO2 lasers of the same power is much cheaper than that of UV lasers, and the cost has great advantages. In some fields, CO2 lasers can do things that other lasers cannot. For example, to generate extreme ultraviolet light, in the past few decades, the lithography process in semiconductor manufacturing has been realized by deep ultraviolet light with a wavelength of more than 100 nanometers. With the development of Moore's Law, semiconductor chips need to be scribed The number of circuits has grown exponentially, and the requirements for fineness have become more and more stringent, which requires extreme ultraviolet light with a wavelength of about 10 nanometers to complete lithography. In addition, there are still many applications on the market that other types of lasers are not capable of, and only CO2 lasers can be used. In some non-metallic materials and polymer materials processing applications, especially plastics applications, CO2 laser is still the best choice.

While UV laser technology continues to gain popularity, traditional CO2 laser technology also has its strengths, and it continues to improve. Therefore, it is difficult for UV laser marking to completely replace CO2 laser marking, but it is an indisputable fact that UV laser marking is becoming more and more popular. From the current point of view, UV laser marking will only be more and more favored by users and the market due to its fine and precise processing and low processing and maintenance costs. With the increasing popularity of ultraviolet lasers in the past three years, six or seven major domestic manufacturers have successively expanded their production, resulting in intensified competition, and the price of ultraviolet lasers has dropped to a certain extent. The application of ultraviolet laser marking has become a trend. In the actual operation of the UV laser, it is very important to maintain its stable operation and protect its service life. Like most laser equipment, UV laser marking machines also require the assistance of a chiller to maintain stable operation, maintain machining accuracy and service life.

The RM & CWUL series chillers developed and produced by RFH Laser are specially designed for cooling 3W-15W UV lasers. The RM series is a cabinet design and can be embedded in the marking machine; the CWUL series is a vertical design, compact and convenient. move. Both of them have the characteristics of high lift and large flow, high temperature control accuracy, stable cooling, multiple alarm protection functions, and small size, easy to move and fully meet the needs of UV laser cooling.

What is the effect of chiller stability on UV laser light output?

As we all know, the larger the water temperature fluctuation of the chiller (that is, the temperature control accuracy is too poor), the light loss will increase, which will affect the cost of laser processing and shorten the service life of the laser. Compared with CO2 laser marking, UV marking has the advantage of processing cost, but the cost of UV laser itself is still higher than that of CO2 laser, so it is very important to reduce processing cost and prolong service life. In addition, the more stable the water pressure of the chiller, the greater the reduction of the laser pipeline load and the avoidance of air bubbles. The special domain chiller has a reasonable design and compact structure, which greatly avoids the generation of air bubbles, stabilizes the laser light output, prolongs the service life, and saves user costs.

3W - 15W UV solid-state laser cooling system is often used in thin film etching, fine marking, glass marking, material micromachining, wafer cutting, 3D printing/laser rapid prototyping, food packaging marking and other industrial applications. The cooling capacity of the RM & CWUL series chillers can reach 370W - 800W according to the power of the laser, and it uses environmentally friendly refrigerants for cooling. Its small size, easy to move, small footprint, easy operation and longevity. The temperature control accuracy of this series of chillers can reach ±0.3℃, and its intelligent thermostat has two temperature control modes, which can be applied to different occasions. It also has a variety of alarm protection functions, including compressor delay protection, compressor overcurrent protection, water flow alarm, and high/low temperature alarm. This series of chillers is an ideal choice for 3W - 15W UV lasers, especially for UV laser marking users.

Covering a wide range of fields, it has established an excellent brand image in the industry with many advantages such as precision and efficiency, convenience and intelligence, stable refrigeration, and support for computer communication. Chillers are widely used in various industrial manufacturing, laser processing and medical industries, and are mainly exported to Europe, America, East Asia and Southeast Asia.