The FDA and EU MDR require traceability of medical devices via Unique Device Identification (UDI) codes. Picosecond laser black marking creates a high-resolution, corrosion-resistant, and permanent mark of UDI codes ideal for surgical tools and implants. AMARK, a cost-effective picosecond laser from Advanced Optowave Corporation (AOC), enables an excellent performance-to-cost ratio picosecond laser black marking solution at the cost of a fiber-laser based black marking solution, which could be a game changer to the industry.
Figure 1 AMARK Picosecond Laser from AOC
The AMARK Picosecond Laser from AOC features a robust seed laser with a self-designed semiconductor saturable absorber mirror (SESAM) and the innovative mode-locking technology. Combined with a high efficiency amplification system, the AMARK Picosecond Laser has a compact size, as shown in Figure 1. The dimensions are (L) 556 mm x (W) 192.5 mm x (H) 152.5 mm. Meanwhile, the well-controlled cost of the AMARK Picosecond Laser enables its competitive price, which is similar to a fiber laser.
The AMARK Picosecond Laser covers the wavelengths of 1064 nm (Infrared), 532 nm (Green) and 355 nm (Ultraviolet). The pulse width is shorter than 20 ps. At the specified frequency of 500 kHz, the output power is 20W@1064nm, 15W@532nm and 8W@355nm. It can operate at a wide frequency range from 100 kHz to 1000 kHz. The output beam diameter is around 3 mm, which may remove the external beam expander in the optical path in a laser marking system or laser micromachining system using the AMARK Picosecond Laser. As shown in Figure 2, the beam quality of the AMARK Picosecond Laser is excellent with a beam roundness over 90% and M2 < 1.3. The detailed specifications of the AMRAK Picosecond Laser can be found in Table 1.
Figure 2 The beam roundness and M2 of AMARK Picosecond Laser
Table 1 Specifications of AMARK Picosecond Laser
Figure 3 Typical Applications of AMARK Picosecond Laser
As shown in Figure 3, besides medical device black marking, the typical applications of AMARK Picosecond Laser include food packaging marking, consumer electronics marking and stainless-steel color marking.
