Differences Between Fiber Laser Marking Machines and UV Laser Marking Machines
2025/09/09
Currently, the most widely used laser marking machines on the market include fiber laser marking machines, UV laser marking machines, and CO2 laser marking machines. These three types of machines cover almost all types of product marking and packaging applications, making them the mainstream laser marking equipment.
Due to differences in their application fields, basic components, and processing principles, the prices of these models also vary. Here are the key differences between fiber laser marking machines and UV laser marking machines:
1. Laser and Principle
UV Laser Marking Machine:
- Utilizes a 355nm UV laser.
- Developed using third-order intracavity frequency doubling technology.
- Compared to infrared lasers, the 355 UV light focuses on a much smaller spot, significantly reducing mechanical deformation of materials with minimal thermal effects during processing.
Fiber Laser Marking Machine:
- Uses a wavelength of 1064nm.
- In general, the shorter the wavelength, the smaller the laser spot, the higher the precision, the smaller the heat-affected zone during processing, and the finer the processing effect.
Unlike CO2 laser marking machines and fiber laser marking machines that use physical marking methods, UV laser marking machines employ a chemical processing method, primarily through photochemical reactions. The distinction between these two processing methods is that physical laser processing primarily works on the surface of products and materials, while chemical laser processing penetrates into the material of the product.
2. Advantages of UV Laser Marking Machines over Fiber Laser Marking Machines
- Wavelength: UV laser has a shorter wavelength than visible light, making it invisible to the naked eye. Despite being invisible, these short wavelengths allow UV lasers to focus more precisely, producing extremely fine circuit features while maintaining excellent positional accuracy.
- Material Suitability: In addition to reducing the temperature of the workpiece, the high-energy photons present in UV light allow UV lasers to be applied to large PCB board assemblies, from standard materials like FR4 to high-frequency ceramic composites and flexible PCB materials like polyimide. UV lasers (Nd:YAG, wavelength 355 nm) have a uniform absorption rate among three common PCB materials.
- High Absorption Capacity: UV lasers demonstrate high absorption capacity when applied to resins and copper, and sufficient absorption capacity when processing glass. While only expensive excimer lasers (wavelength 248 nm) can achieve complete absorption for these primary materials, UV lasers are the best choice for various PCB materials used in many industrial applications, from basic circuit board production to high-end processes involving embedded chips and other advanced technologies.
- Direct Computerized System: The computerized system of UV laser marking machines directly processes circuit boards from computer-aided design data, eliminating intermediate steps in the circuit board manufacturing process. Combined with the precise focusing capability of UV light, UV laser systems enable customized solutions and repeatable positioning. Accurate positioning is also a necessary requirement in the circuit industry.
