Rofin has released the PowerLine IC-E (Fig.1), which is one of a family of fully programmable IC markers, specifically designed for the semiconductor industry, which use solid state laser technology to provide high quality marking capability at high speed.
This diode pumped Nd:YAG laser combines fibre technology and high speed marking heads to generate more than 1,000 characters (1.0mm size) per second, enabling rapid processing of large batch sizes. The IC-E series lasers are able to mark even the most sensitive components and almost all materials used in semiconductor manufacturing such as mould components, silicons, epoxy and ceramics etc. The available wavelengths (1064nm and 532nm) increase the variety of materials which can be marked.
Precise beam power control together with high laser pulse repetition rates provides high contrast laser marking and consistent material penetration depth. Character sizes can be defined to suit the user’s requirements and even characters as small as 0.2mm in height are still produced with the highest quality and legibility. Line widths are selectable from 40µm up to 160µm and controlled penetration depths of less than 25µm are achieved using the PowerLine IC-E laser.
The high speed marking head provides a field size of 180mm x 180mm, and marking contents can include any combination of alpha-numeric characters, logos or machine readable codes with no adverse effects on the system performance.
The system is provided with a Windows based software package and text, logos or graphics can be created using simple drag and drop functions. A built in wizard provides the user with a variety of templates thus reducing the time taken to generate a marking layout. Alternatively existing files can be easily imported to the system. In addition a preview function also enables programmes to be checked at a glance before any marking takes place.
The flexible technology of the PowerLine IC-E enables easy integration into either new machines or existing semiconductor manufacturing lines. The compact design of the Laser Head and Galvo Marking Unit means that a minimum of space is required within the machine or manufacturing line where the marking operations are to take place. When the highest throughput or larger marking fields are required the IC-E is available with dual marking heads. In this configuration the laser source is shared, and the marking heads can serve adjoining or overlapping marking fields providing optimum performance. This dual head configuration can provide an extended marking field measuring 300mm x 180mm.The supply unit, which is where the laser beam is generated, together with the PC unit can be rack mounted alongside other electronic equipment such as PLCs, which may be part of the machine or manufacturing line control system.
As an air-cooled system the PowerLine IC-E has been designed to be efficient and economical to operate. This laser is also low maintenance, so overall running costs will be minimised and system availability and up times maximised by the long life of the diode pumped laser source.
Rofin offers the most complete range of lasers for marking including CO2, YAG, Vanadate and Fibre lasers. Rofin also provides solutions for Fine Cutting and Welding applications.