Which is better, CO2 or fiber laser?

If you&#;re looking to mark metal, what you need to buy is a fiber laser. If you&#;re looking to mark organic materials like textiles, wood, or cardboard, a CO2 laser is the best choice.

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If your application is laser cutting of metals, you&#;ll most likely need a high-power CW (continuous wave) fiber laser. For other materials like plastics and rubber, it can be one or the other.

The main difference that determines the type of materials each laser can process is the wavelength. A fiber laser usually has a wavelength of 1,060 nm while CO2 lasers have wavelengths in the 10,600 nm range. In general, fiber lasers have many advantages over CO2 lasers.

Fiber vs CO2 Lasers

Fiber lasers are generally better at cutting metals than CO2 lasers because the laser beam&#;s energy is absorbed more efficiently by the metal surface. They offer &#;50% lower operating costs, faster processing speeds, higher precision, and require less maintenance, making them a cost-effective and versatile choice for diverse applications.

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Fiber Lasers

Fiber lasers are best suited for high-contrast markings like metal annealing, etching, and engraving. They produce an extremely small focal diameter (resulting in intensity up to 100 times higher than a CO2 system), making them the ideal choice for permanent marking of serial numbers, barcodes, and data matrix on metals. Fiber lasers are widely used for product traceability (direct part marking) and identification applications.

One big plus is fiber lasers are maintenance-free machines, and they have a long service life (our lasers have a minimum of 100,000 operating hours). They are also smaller than CO2 lasers. Plus due to the high electrical efficiency of fiber lasers, they use significantly less power than CO2 lasers, resulting in huge cost savings for cutting applications.

Fiber lasers also have a growing demand for industrial cleaning applications such as removing rust, paint, oxides, and other contaminants.

The cost of a fiber laser system will greatly vary depending on your applications. Industrial fiber lasers systems for demanding environment like we do usually start at $40,000 and can go up to $1,000,000 for high-power laser-cutting machines. The power usually ranging from 20 W to 6,000 W will have the largest impact on price.

CO2 Lasers

CO2 laser marking is ideal for a wide range of non-metallic materials including plastics, textiles, glass, acrylic, wood, and even stone. They are used in pharmaceutical and food packaging as well as the marking of PVC pipes, building materials, mobile communications gadgets, electrical appliances, integrated circuits, and electronic components.

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If you need to cut thicker materials, it&#;s best to go with CO2 lasers. CO2 lasers deliver faster initial piercing times, quicker straight-line cutting and a smoother surface finish when cutting materials above 5 mm.

Unfortunately, CO2 lasers use significantly more power than fiber lasers, resulting in a higher cost of operation. For instance, a high-power CO2 laser and chiller will consume roughly 70 kW when operating on maximum power. A similarly powered fiber laser consumes approximately 18 kW.

The cost of CO2 lasers tends to be less than fiber lasers. The price for CO2 laser marking systems usually ranges between $35,000 and $80,000. Again, the power (which usually ranges between 20 W to 150 W) will influence the cost.

Conclusion

Although each laser does have its strengths and distinct use cases, CO2 is an older technology and fiber lasers are gaining market fast as the technology advances. With the speed benefits, almost half of the operating costs and three to four times greater throughput than CO2 lasers, the financial gains that can be got from using fiber lasers can be game changing.

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Most cutting lasers fall into either the CO2 or fiber laser categories. Each technique has strengths and weaknesses that must be evaluated when selecting equipment for any particular task. Fiber lasers can cut almost all materials and do so 3 to 5 times quicker than other styles. However, they work best on sheet materials 5 mm or thinner. In the transition range from 5 to 20 mm thickness, the advantages of fiber lasers are less marked and the capabilities of CO2 lasers can be beneficial. Above 20 mm, fiber lasers rapidly lose their value. Materials like steel with thicknesses of up to 100 mm typically need oxygen-assisted CO2 lasers. This article seeks to explain the differences between CO2 lasers vs. fiber lasers that are important to know when specifying services or purchasing equipment.

What is a CO2 Laser?

A CO2 laser exploits the electrically induced vibration of carbon dioxide molecules to trigger the rapid emission of photons. It works by applying an electric field either along or across a gas-filled tube containing 10-20% each of N2 and CO2 along with trace hydrogen and xenon. The remainder of the tube is filled with helium. The electric field causes the N2 molecules to vibrate. Nitrogen, being homonuclear, cannot lose energy by photon emission, so the vibration of N2 molecules increases rapidly. N2 and CO2 have very similar natural vibration frequencies, so the energy is transferred to the CO2 by sympathetic oscillation. They then impact helium atoms, altering their vibrational mode and heating the helium. Vibrational mode transition releases a photon, so it generates light. CO2 has three vibrational modes, giving it two potential transitions. CO2 lasers can thus emit two primary frequencies of laser light (if they are built to allow for both). The ends of the tube are capped with Brewster mirrors: one half-silvered and the other fully silvered. The light passage out from the half-silver mirror is collimated and can be reflected and refracted to direct and shape the beam.

CO2 lasers put out infrared energy. It&#;s a relatively low-frequency electromagnetic wave but has better effective power than many other wavelengths. Thus, these lasers have some significant advantages:

1. Despite complex physics, their construction is simple.
2. Can be tuned for milliwatt to high kilowatt power outputs.
3. Cheap to manufacture.
4. The constant beam has a continuous peak output power.
5. Power can be increased simply by using a longer tube.
6. Can be Q tuned by rotating mirror elements, increasing pulse power.

Some variants, like RF gas flow CO2 slab lasers, are improvements on the basic type. These enhancements improve output, product life, and efficiency.

For more information, see our guide on CO2 Laser.

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