Laser marking for thermoplastics

The majority of thermoplastics cannot be marked economically sufficient without the addition of special laser additives. ROWALID^®-LS masterbatches enable laser marking of thermoplastics. The special additives increase the absorption ability of the polymer matrix or change color themselves (intrinsic effect) and thus create a permanent change in color. A whitish/light grey marking is achieved by foaming, whereas carbonization or coloring of the additive results in a dark/dark grey marking. By combining special additives and colorants even colored markings can be achieved.

ROWALID^®-LS masterbatches are optimized for infrared lasers with a wavelength of 1064 nm (neodymium-doped yttrium-ortho-vanadate laser (Nd:YVO) and neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum-granate laser (Nd:YAG)). The markings are durable and chemically inert. The marking process happens quickly, precisely and contact free and can easily be reproduced. Another advantage compared to standard printing processes is the flexibility.

Almost all thermoplastics, e. g. PE, PP, PS, PA, PC, PMMA, PBT, PET, ABS and TPU can be marked this way, without significant change of other properties. The laser writeability can be easily combined with e. g. color or UV protection. Like all ROWA Masterbatch products ROWALID^®-LS can be specifically matched according to the customer’s requirements, no matter if the application is fonts on power plugs, bar codes on animal ear tags or logos on automotive switches. Regulatory specifications and conformities like toy application, food contact or absence of antimony can be taken into account on request. ROWA Masterbatch is able to objectively measure the quality of the marking and determine the ideal parameters like frequency and marking speed in their own laser center. For this a Nd:YVO marking laser manufactured by the company Photonenwerke is used.