Fiber laser marking machine is developing rapidly In recent years, and widely used in the fields of electronic 3C products, machinery, food, packaging etc.. Compared with the traditional marking technology, laser marking technology has more advantages, not only marking effect is more beautiful, and the production and processing is more efficient.
At present, the pulsed fiber laser marking machine used for marking on the market are mainly 2 types: Q-switched technology & MOPA technology. Q-switched fiber laser marking machine have been appeared years earlier, so they currently keep a large share of the market. However, MOPA fiber laser marking machine are just developing gradually in recent years. As a new type of technology, what is the difference between MOPA lasers and Q-switched lasers and what are the new advantages of MOPA lasers?

Application differences between MOPA laser marking and Q-switched laser marking.
1. The surface stripping of aluminium oxide sheet
Today’s electronic products are becoming increasingly lighter and thinner. Many mobile phones, tablets, and computers use light-weight aluminum oxide as the outer shell of the product. When a Q-switched laser is used to mark conductive sites on a thin aluminum plate, it can easily cause deformation of the material and “convex bulges” on the back side, which directly affects the aesthetic appearance. With the use of the MOPA laser’s small pulse width parameters, it can make the material not easily deformed, and the shading is more delicate and bright. This is due to the MOPA laser’s use of small pulse width parameters that allow the laser to stay in the material for a shorter period of time, but also have enough energy to clear the anode layer, so for the thin aluminum oxide plate surface stripping anode processing, MOPA Lasers are a better choice.

2. Anodized aluminum black marking
The laser is used to mark the black trademark, model, and text on the surface of the anodized aluminum material. This application has been widely used by electronic manufacturers such as Apple, Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, and Meizu in the past two years. On the mark, type, etc. used to mark the black mark. For this kind of application, only MOPA laser can process it at present. Because the MOPA laser has a wide range of pulse width and pulse frequency adjustment, the narrow pulse width and high frequency parameters can be used to mark the surface of the material as black. Different combinations of parameters can also be used to mark different gray levels.

3.Electronic, semiconductor, ITO precision machining
In precision machining of electronics, semiconductors, and ITO, fine line application is often required. Q-switched lasers cannot regulate the pulse width parameters due to its own architecture, so it is difficult to fine-tune the line drawn. The MOPA laser can adjust the pulse width and frequency parameters flexibly, which can not only make the line drawn fine, but also the edges appear smooth and not rough.

In addition to the several application cases above, here we list some typical application cases as shows:

Application	Q-switched	MOPA
Aluminium oxide thin sheet surface removal	Easy deformation & rough shading	NO deformation & fine shading
Anodized Aluminium black marking	CAN’T DO	Can do different shades of black color by setting up different parameters
Metal deep marking	Rough shading	Fine shading
Stainless steel black marking	Need under the state of out-of-focus, difficult to adjust effect	Can do various color marking by adjusting pulse width and pulse frequency
PC/ABS etc. plastics	Marking effect is prone to yellowing & handfeel heavy	NO handfeel & marking effect is NOT prone to yellowing
Transparent paint plastic buttons	Difficult to clean up	Easy to clean up, high efficiency
Electronics, semiconductor, ITO precision finishing	Pulse width too big, energy too strong	Can adjust pulse width to make laser light spot more finer   Energy also can be adjusted evenly

This is Selina from triumphlaser,If you have any questions about laser marking machine, just feel free to contact with me.
I am always here being ready to offer help.
Email:selina@triumphlaser.com