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Manufacturers of electronic components, pharmaceuticals and packaging, as well as consumer goods, have a critical requirement for permanent marking of their products, e.g. for traceability, anti-counterfeiting, branding or functional purposes such as scale marking. Labels can be damaged or removed, inks can become contaminated and infrared lasers cause charring and other undesirable thermal effects. UV lasers are the solution to challenging requirements.
Solutions
Ultraviolet lasers are ideal for most of these marking tasks because the high-energy photons from these lasers directly break the molecular bonds in plastic polymers. This can induce a photochemical transformation that changes the color of the plastic without removing material or causing thermal damage to the surface. The most common photochemical transformation is the bleaching of the coloured material, leaving a light trace. Some materials are designed to induce other types of colour changes. For example, ultraviolet lasers can 
create dark, high-contrast marks on ABS and polyurethane that are white due to titanium dioxide doping, as on the front panels of kitchen appliances. Ultraviolet lasers can also mark transparent and coated coloured plastics, such as those used in inhalation masks or eyeglass frames. In the pharmaceutical industry, UV laser marking is also useful for marking gel capsules and blister packs and for creating QR codes on bottle caps. Coherent is one of the leading suppliers of pulsed ultraviolet lasers for marking and other industrial applications. Decades of experience in ultraviolet applications have produced lasers with the highest reliability and longest lifetime, such as the PowerLine E 8 QT.
Benefits
Ultraviolet laser marking meets the broad need for marking plastic products and packaging without causing heat affected surfaces (HAZ) or other thermal damage. Coherent laser markers and systems provide you with proven ultraviolet marking solutions from an experienced supplier. The most popular laser marker for marking plastics is the Coherent PowerLine E 8 QT laser. It is a compact, high-power air-cooled laser subsystem designed for easy integration into production lines.
Field of application
UV lasers are used for marking electronic components, pharmaceutical products and packaging as well as consumer products.
