LASER MARKING | TECHNOLOGY Lasering in on marking
Increasing concerns over product security, part traceability and counterfeiting protection are driving interest in laser marking. Peter Mapleston investigates the latest additive options
The way that a plastics compound reacts to laser light can be critical in all sorts of processes and applications. In decoration and marking, for example, lasers create a permanent colour change in the compound. This permanence has made laser marking a popular method of identification — it is much more stable and durable than pad printing. Other laser benefits include the ability to mark a wide variety of surface structures and shapes — even curved designs — plus resistance to abrasion, weather, light and chemicals. A further plus point of laser marking is its flexibility - digital templates can be created quickly and varied easily for applica- tions such as custom or sequential marking. Other laser-based technologies include laser
direct structuring (LDS), where the laser is used to create extremely fine tracks in the surface of a part which can then be filled or covered with metal to create electric circuits in moulded interconnect devices (MIDs). Then in laser welding assembly operations, the compound may need to absorb light in a particular part of the spectrum (typically infrared) so that it melts or it be fully transparent to that radiation so the laser beam passes through the component to the weld interface (laser welding
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developments are covered in a following article in this edition). One of the global leaders in laser marking additives is Germany’s Merck KGaA (operating as EMD Electronics in the US) with its Iriotec 8000 Series. These additives are based on various chemistries — including iron oxide, modified TiO2, antimony-doped tin oxide (cassiterite) and mica — selected to suit the application and the compound they are to be incorporated into. The additives can be in the form of a pure oxide, or as a coating on a mica or TiO2 core. The company has obtained regulatory clearance
via Food Contact Notification (FCN) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the majority of its industrial and laser marking pig- ments in plastic applications. Various Iriotec 8000 Series products now have FCNs, including grades containing antimony-doped tin oxide. According to Silvia Rosenberger, a laser marking
expert in Technical Marketing for plastics applica- tions at the company, the Iriotec 8000 additives were developed specifically for laser marking. This is said to differentiate them for some competitor products where laser printability is a supplemen-
July 2022 | COMPOUNDING WORLD 53
Main image: Laser marking additives provide
permanent and durable product identification together with speed and ease of customisation
IMAGE: MERCK KGAA
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