The Difference Between MOPA Laser And Q-switched Laser

July 26, 2020

In recent years, fiber laser marking technology has been widely used in electronic products, machinery, food packaging and other fields. Compared with traditional marking technology, laser marking technology not only has less material loss, but also has more advantages in marking performance. In order to obtain a more beautiful marking effect and higher production and processing efficiency, people will compare different types of lasers on the market to find one that is suitable for processing specific products. Currently, the pulsed fiber lasers used in marking include Q-switched technology and MOPA technology. The emergence of Q-switched lasers is earlier, so they currently occupy a large portion of the processing market. MOPA lasers have only been gradually developed in recent years. As a newer technology, what is the difference between MOPA lasers and Q-switched lasers? What are MOPAs advantages?

 

1. Surface stripping of aluminum oxide sheet

Nowadays, electronic products are becoming thinner and lighter. Many mobile phones, tablets, and computers use thin and light aluminum oxide as the product shell. When using a Q-switched laser to mark conductive positions on a thin aluminum plate, it is easy to cause deformation of the material, which directly affects the aesthetics of the appearance. MOPA laser's smaller pulse width can make the material not easy to deform, and the shading is more delicate and brighter. This is because the MOPA laser uses a small pulse width to make the laser stay on the material shorter, and it has enough energy to remove the anode layer, so for the processing of stripping the anode on the surface of the thin alumina plate, MOPA Laser is a better choice.

 

2. Anodized aluminum blackening application

Using lasers to mark black trademarks, models, texts, etc. on the surface of anodized aluminum materials, this application has gradually been widely used by electronic manufacturers such as Apple and Huawei for marking black trademarks on the shells of electronic products in the past years. For such applications, only MOPA lasers can make it at present. Because the MOPA laser has a wide adjustment range of pulse width and pulse frequency, the use of narrow pulse width and high frequency parameters can mark the surface of the material with a black color, and different parameter combinations can also mark different grayscale appearance.

 

3. Electronics, semi-conductor, ITO precision processing applications

In the precision processing of electronics, semi-conductors, and ITO thin films, fine scribing is often applied. The Q-switched laser is unable to adjust the pulse width parameter due to its own structure, so it is difficult to draw fine lines. The MOPA laser can flexibly adjust the pulse width and frequency parameters, which can not only make the scribe lines fine, but also the edges smooth .

 

According to the above introduction and comparison, it can be concluded that MOPA lasers is able to replace Q-switched lasers in many applications. In short, MOPA lasers have a lot of adjustment space compared to Q-switched lasers in terms of pulse width, pulse frequency, and control waveforms, so that the combination of various parameters can be used to meet the requirements for different materials. If users need specific models, we can also modulate exclusive laser parameters to provide users with a full range of laser application solutions.