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What can be marked with a laser and how does one do that?

It would be great if someone could create a “recipe book” that would give specific settings for laser marking any type of material on any type or make of laser marking system. Good luck finding that. Different laser marking systems from different manufacturers can yield different results on the same material for several reasons. Those reasons might include laser wavelength, laser beam quality, focused laser spot size, laser pulse width, pulse frequency range, laser calibration units and marking software capabilities.

Rather than trying to define specific laser settings for specific material types, it might be better to try and understand what effect different laser settings have on those materials.

A few years ago I wrote a couple of articles about laser marking that were published by Photonics Online. If one is new to laser marking, reading those articles might be a good place to start:

With few exceptions, laser marking systems are either 1064 nm fiber lasers or 10,600 nm CO2 lasers. Fiber lasers work on all metals, plated, painted or bare, and a handful of non-metals such as some types of plastics. CO2 lasers work on wood, glass, organic materials, most plastics, and painted surfaces. There is some overlap between laser type and material but, generally speaking, one laser type is far superior to the other for a particular material.

Use the handy matrix below to locate examples of laser marking and engraving.

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