TEA CO2 Lasers
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T.E.A. Co2 laser is used for laser marking and laser etching in numerous industrial situations. The development of TEA CO2 Lasers has been explained in detail in this article on TEA CO2 Lasers. Read it to find something interesting and surprising!
T.E.A. means transversely excited atmospheric. This kind of lasers have been in general industrial use for laser marking operations starting approximately in the early 1970s and late 1960’s. The T.E.A. Co2 laser has been used extensively for laser marking and laser etching in many industries and on many different types of products. The T.E.A. Co2 laser has been used extensively in the dry food and pharmaceutical industries for laser marking and laser etching of buy dates, product expiration dates, lot numbers and serial numbers.
T.E.A. Co2 laser marking is achieved via the use of a mask or stencil. As the laser beam passes through the stencil, the outline of the mask or stencil is laser marked or laser etched onto the product. Changing the laser mark requires changing of the mask or stencil. In the past this was accomplished by an operator who manually changed the mask or stencil. This process continued until the introduction of automatic mask changers or time clocks several years after the introduction of the T.E.A. Co2 laser. Generally speaking, the use of T.E.A. Co2 mask lasers is limited to applications where the laser mark does not require frequent changes and the laser mark can be altered infrequently. Examples include, once at the end each shift, once a day, or after a long batch processing run of products. Automatic time clock modules are available but generally increment the time only every 15 or 30 minutes.
The T.E.A. Co2 laser requires the use of an external laser gas bottle generally consisting of the following components and approximate % combinations:
- Carbon dioxide (CO2) (around 10-20 %)
- Nitrogen (N2) (around 10-20%)
- Hydrogen (H2)
- Helium (He) (The remainder of the gas mixture)
The gas mixture flows though the laser by use of an internal fan assembly inside the laser head. The medium is combined with an electrical discharge that excites the atmosphere and generates the laser beam. This gas mixture is a consumable of the T.E.A Co2 laser marking or laser etching process. For spark gap driven T.E.A. Co2 lasers a dry air or nitrogen supply to the spark gap is also required.
T.E.A. Co2 lasers employed for laser marking and laser etching are generally air cooled except for the highest speed operations where water cooling may be required. T.E.A. Co2 lasers generally used in industrial laser marking and laser etching applications are capable of laser marking or laser etching up to 90,000 parts per hour. Generally T.E.A. Co2 lasers used in industrial laser marking or laser etching applications produce power levels from 2.0 joules to 5.5 joules depending on the internal configuration of the main capacitor size and rating coupled with the reflectivity of the laser font optic.
T.E.A. Co2 laser produce a very high peak power, up to 10x the peak power of continuous wave Co2 lasers and therefore are extremely useful for Co2 laser marking and laser etching of products that can be difficult for Co2 lasers such as some plastics and resins. With some materials, laser marking and laser etching with T.E.A. Co2 lasers will produce a visible color change to the product. Laser marking and laser etching sealed beam RF excited Co2 lasers will only produce an etch with no color change. The T.E.A. Co2 lasers can produce the change in color for some products along with a laser etch due to the high peak power produced by the T.E.A. Co2 laser pulse.
T.E.A. Co2 lasers have been used extensively up till now for laser marking and laser etching of discrete electronic components such as T0220’s and SOT23’s. The T.E.A. lasers produce a white or blue appearing laser mark on the component when the laser beam interacts with a ‘laser friendly’ ink on the surface of the component. In many of these applications the T.E.A. Co2 laser is coupled with a component tester. If the component passes the test a laser mark is applied. If the component fails the test the part is rejected from the line.
The newest generation of T.E.A. Co2 lasers has very high repetition rates and are used extensive in the Kapton industry for laser drilling purposes.
T.E.A. Co2 lasers generally operate in the infrared light spectrum at 10.6 and 9.4 micrometers. Generally rear optics in the laser cavity are 100% reflective to an extent causing self generated laser beams inside the electrode gap and laser head. The front optics in industrial applications vary between 40% to 70% reflective based on the material being Co2 laser marked, laser etched or laser drilled.
An important advantage of the T.E.A. Co2 laser is that laser light wavelength can be changed from 10.6 micrometers to 9.4 micrometers. This is achieved with the change of the font optic coating. The use of laser light at 9.4 micrometers is very important for Co2 laser marking of certain plastics such as PET or PETE and producing readable color changed Co2 laser marks on bottles. Generally speaking T.E.A. Co2 laser front optics in industrial applications are geranium coated though sometimes zinc selenide is used. Mirrors for turning the laser beam are gold coated and the laser beam profile can approach sizes of approximately 1″ x 1″ depending on the gap of the electrode set.
TEA CO2 Lasers have always fascinated me. This is the initiative I needed in getting this article written on TEA CO2 Lasers, to let this fascination fascinate others.
Laser engraved keytags
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Thinking about laser engraved key tags? You have come to the right place for all the information possible on laser engraved key tags.
Laser engraving is a top notch engraving technique used, nowadays, for an increasingly number of applications. This industrial and art technique is well known for its precision and the quality of its results. Now you can use laser engravers for your advertising needs as well.
You can find in the market several companies specialized in engraving key tags with laser. Key tags are a very useful and effective method to advertise and promote your services or products. You can see and example of this kind of work below.
Please feel free to explore the links in our website to laser engraving services providers. You will discover many reputed companies if you follow these links.
Isn’t it amazing how much information can be transferred through a single page? So much stands to gain, and to lose about laser engraved key tags through a single page.
Laser engraved wood pens
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We never knew there was so much to write about laser engraved wood pens. See if you had known these points before reading this article on laser engraved wood pens.
Laser engraved wood pens are definitively a very good option for your business promotional needs. Everytime that businessmen and entrepreneurs think about promotional items, they must look for 3 important factors:
- Advertising impact
- Promotional item cost
- Perdurability in the customers or prospects mind and everyday life.
laser engraved wood pens are the perfect option for these needs and they cover perfectly these important promotional factors. I urge you to explore the links in our website to recommended sources and providers online.
Whenever one reads any reading matter likelaser engraved wood pens, it is vital that the person enjoys reading it. One should grasp the meaning of the matter, only then can it be considered that its reading is complete.
You can see an example of this kind of promotional tool at the following picture.
Producing such an interesting anecdote on laser engraved wood pens took a lot of time and hard work. So it would be enhancing to us to learn that you have made good use of this hard work!
The picture represents a high quality rosewood pen has tarnish resistant gold plating, high endurance mechanisms, and a thicker wood base than other rosewood pens. A perfect option for your needs.
Hope that after reading my article you would have learned a lot about laser engraved wood pens. Let it be informative to you.