What is fiber laser marking?

What can I create with a fiber laser marking machine?

Ideal for personalisation, identification or branding, fiber laser marking machines are very well established in many industries and are found on manufacturing lines around the world. A common choice for traceability marks such as barcodes, QR codes and text, these machines are used in a range of sectors including medical, automotive and mechanical engineering. Plus, they are becoming increasingly popular in retail industries because of their ability to personalise items including phones, switches, tech devices and jewellery.

Laserable Materials

Types of Fiber Laser

There are two common types of fiber laser, Q-Switched and MOPA. The main difference between these types of technology is the variety of pulse width and frequency.

MOPA Fiber

A MOPA laser is much more flexible than the Q-Switched fiber lasers, but not all MOPA systems are the same. Good MOPA systems have a wide range of pulse width and frequency adjustments available, this means they suit more materials and are less prone to creating unwanted deformations. However, quality and modulation versatility differ greatly between manufacturers, furthermore, machine stability and Z-Axis accuracy is critical.

Q-Switched Fiber

Q-Switched fiber lasers used to be the most commonly-found fiber laser source. They are typically not as efficient nor do they possess as wide range of pulse modulations as the MOPA laser, making them less flexible and much more prone to deforming different materials. That said, they are still excellent at a variety of simple marking tasks and are typically far more cost effective.