Productivity gain with laser power measurement on production line for a plastic drilling application

Case study

Application: Laser plastic drilling

Measurement type: Laser power measurement

Customer goals

The customer is a worldwide company that produces various electric components like ceramic capacitors, resistors, and sensors. Their technology is leading the world in many industries such as medical, factory automation, and automotive.

They use lasers at several points on their production lines. One of their laser applications is plastic drilling. More specifically, they use a 355nm UV laser to drill small holes in resin.

The customer was already well aware of the importance of measuring the laser output and had been doing so for many years already. This allows them to minimize loss and ensure all parts meet the quality requirements. After all, for the materials to be processed as expected, the laser power has to be as expected.

The customer's goal is to speed up the laser power measurement process. They were using measurement instruments made by a competing brand and were unsatisfied with the measurement duration. Time spent measuring is not spent producing. Therefore there is a loss in productivity.

Challenges

To improve the operations, the person in charge of production wanted to shorten the laser power measurement time.

This can be done by using measurement instruments that have a faster rise time.

Gentec-EO’s solutions

After discussing with the customers about their laser specifications, a Gentec-EO laser beam measurement expert pinpointed the best solution for this customer’s needs: the UP12 series.

The most important specification of the UP12 series for this customer is its rise time of just 0.3 seconds.  This should remove any loss in productivity they are experiencing with their previous solution.

UP12 series

The UP12 series is a thermopile-based laser power detector with an aperture of 12 mm. It is available in various models for measurement of up to 10 W, 20 W, or 70 W of continuous average power, which covers the power range of the customer.

Results

The customer tested and compared some suppliers’ power meters along with Gentec-EO, and found that the performance of the UP12 detector was the best in rise time.

Therefore, they decided to rely on Gentec-EO’s measurement solutions on production lines because it allows for productivity gains and is therefore more cost-efficient.

We can help you too

Gentec Electro-Optics specializes in laser beam measurement and analysis. With an outstanding 50-year track record of innovation, developing and providing state-of-the-art technologies to the laser market, Gentec-EO has become The Expert of the laser beam measurement field.

Gentec-EO offers the broadest range of off-the-shelf and custom laser beam measurement solutions. Challenge us with your laser specs and system requirements and we'll come up with the measurement solution that meets your needs.

Request a free consultation with a laser beam measurement expert